Colby T. Helms and the Virginia Creepers, blending bluegrass with blues and country, will perform at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Flat Iron Crossroads in Gloucester.
The show follows the release of Helms’ debut album, “Tales of Misfortune,” which recounts the 21-year-old Boones Mill, Virginia, native’s origin story and artistic coming of age and has received praise from NPR’s Fresh Air, Billboard, Bandcamp, and others, said a press release.
Helms lives in an underground house built by his late father, said the release. He first dreamed of making music his life at the age of 12 and taught himself guitar, banjo, and mandolin by watching local performers and YouTube videos. At the age of 16, he began performing “anywhere people would have him,” and by age 18 he had written the songs that would become his semi-biographical concept album.
His songs include “Higher Ground,” about the choices he has made to realize his dream of becoming a musician; “Mountain Brandy,” about his home in the Blue Ridge...