Sounds of the Mountains: Colby T. Helms & the Virginia Creepers + The Wilder Flower

Name: Sounds of the Mountains: Colby T. Helms & the Virginia Creepers + The Wilder Flower
Start: 2025-01-25T19:30:00-05:00
Location: Willingham Theater

Schedule

Sat, 25 Jan, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Willingham Theater | Yadkinville, NC

Colby T. Helms & the Virginia Creepers + The Wilder Flower
Sounds of the Mountains Concert Series presented in partnership with the Yadkin Arts Council
Saturday, January 18, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Willingham Theater, 226 E. Main Street Yadkinville, NC
Tickets: $20
The Blue Ridge Mountains wind through eight states over a stretch of 615 miles. In Virginia, they overlook Franklin County south of Roanoke. Back in the day, bootleggers would refer to the area as “The Moonshine Capital of the World” due to its perfect placement to export contraband.
These days, the textile mills of Rocky Mountain and other once cozy-towns have shut down, leaving minimal opportunity and a lot of hopelessness. At the bottom of the Southwest Virginia foothills half-a-mile from the nearest neighbor, Colby Helms resides in an “underground house” built by his late father. He chops wood daily for the stove, hunts, and takes care of his mom. He also pens the kind of raw and real country music that cuts to the bone.
At 12-years-old, Helms endured the loss of his father due to cancer. Beset by sadness and loneliness, he turned to music. He taught himself guitar, banjo, and mandolin by watching local performers and YouTube videos. Under the influence of the forefathers of country, he listened to dusty vinyl from Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys, Bob Willis and His Texas Playboys, and Jimmie Rodgers, while embracing the modern country sounds of Charley Crocket and Tyler Childers. Along the way, he carefully developed a signature style of his own, striking a dynamic balance between country storytelling, bluegrass energy, and blues power.
Opening the show is The Wilder Flower, an all-female trio from the Carolinas. Growing up in the thick of bluegrass and old-time tradition, all three members started playing music at a young age in YAM/JAM programs. The trio flexes between folk, Americana, bluegrass, and old-time, mixing vocally on three-part harmonies, old-time ballads, and modern melodies. Instrumentally, they feature bluegrass banjo tunes, fiddle and clawhammer string-band songs, flatpicking guitar numbers, and everything in between. Their unique sound is centered around original songs and tunes that are thoughtfully arranged and adapted to showcase their tasteful instrumental sensibilities.