Since their early days of playing dive bar corner stages, the Stampede String Band have held strong to a modest Midwest motto. “One of the first pieces of merch that we had used the motto, ‘Work Hard.

A veteran performer in the Blue Ridge/Appalachian Mountains region by age 18, Helms wrote the songs that would become his debut album, "Tales of Misfortune," as a senior in high school. The Stampede ...