New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today 21-year-old Appalachian phenom Colby T. Helms announces his debut album, Tales of Misfortune. Out January 19th via Photo Finish Records, Helms penned all the songs on the semi-autobiographical concept album as a senior in high school.
Produced by Helms' mentor and Boones Mill, VA-fiddle-legend Billy Hurt, the 8-track collection recounts his origin story and artistic coming of age. As if in a dream, Helms delivers a devotional to his father who died of cancer when Colby was 12 and inspired his path in music, wrestles with the traveling troubadour's life he has chosen, and acknowledges the mystical pull of his hometown that keeps bringing him back.
Today, Helms shares the first preview of the album's bone-raw brand of country folk with his debut single, "Higher Ground." Striking a dynamic balance between country storytelling, bluegrass energy, and blues power, Helms details his time spent on the road with stark honesty and a sharp angular twang. The day he turned 16, Helms bought a stick-shift Jeep Wrangler, and hit the road playing for anyone who would have him. He hasn't looked back since.
On the heels of his debut single, Helms will open for Marty
Stuart at the Annapolis Songwriters Festival on Sept. 16, and will make his AmericanaFest debut in Nashville, TN next week.
Tales of Misfortune Tracklist:
First Snow
Dreaming Again
Higher Ground
Mountain Brandy
Dove Song
Leanne
Smoke and Flames
Daddy's Pocket Knife
All songs written by Colby T. Helms and produced by Billy Hurt.
Upcoming Colby T. Helms Tour Dates:
9/16 - Annapolis Songwriters Festival in Annapolis, MD**
9/21 - AmericanaFest Day-Party @ The Basement in Nashville, TN
9/30 - Rocky Mount 150th Festival in Rocky Mount, VA
10/7 - Albino Skunk
Music Festival in Greer, SC
10/15 - GO Outside Festival in Roanoke, VA
11/25 - Seafood Festival in Martinsville, VA
**denotes opening for Marty
Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives
At the bottom of the Southwest Virginia foothills half-a-mile from the nearest neighbor, Colby T. Helms resides in an "underground house" built by his late father on land his family has owned for generations. Helms first dreamed of making music his life at the age of 12, when a group of Blue Ridge Mountain old-time and bluegrass players performed songs like The Ozark Mountain Daredevils' "Standing On The Rock" and the gospel classic "
A Beautiful Life" at his father's funeral in Boones Mill, VA. He taught himself guitar, banjo, and mandolin by watching local performers and YouTube videos, and by age 18 he was a veteran performer in the Blue Ridge/Appalachian Mountains region, fronting his band The Virginia Creepers.
Website: colbyhelms.com
Instagram: instagram.com/colby.t.helms
TikTok: tiktok.com/@colby.t.helms
Facebook: facebook.com/colbythelmsmusic
YouTube: youtube.com/@colbythelms9940
