Here's our first story.
The band called the Autumn Kings Trio had just finished performing at the annual Rockfest Wisconsin in Chippewa Valley when their van broke down on a rural highway. They called every mechanic in the area, but it required two days to fix the engine, yet they only had 10 hours to make it to their next gig, The Upheaval Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 500 miles away.
Just then, a complete stranger, Ernie, stopped to see if he could help and ended up giving the band the keys to his Ford Explorer to use for several days to drive over 1,000 miles so they could finish out their tour.
"The kindness of this one man restored our faith in humanity," the band members said. "With all the things you hear about how the world is always going to heck, there are truly generous human beings beyond comprehension. If it wasn't for Ernie, we wouldn't have been able to get to the Upheaval Festival, and heaven was looking down on us because we had what I believe to be the greatest show of our career. Without you, Ernie, it would not have been possible."
When they returned the red truck to Ernie's house, they asked him why he wanted to help. It wasn't just because he had a spare vehicle at home. He said, "I've never met a live band before, but I just did it to help three strangers on the side of the road."
A fan of the band, Brooke Murray, summed up the Ernie encounter perfectly: "This is the best and most Midwest story I've ever heard."
Here's our next story.
A homeless man who was recorded playing the piano in a church on a cold January night says his whole life has turned around in the two years since his performance went viral.
Rhys Wyn Jones had been homeless for a decade in England when he sought refuge at St. Mary's Church in Penzance, one of Britain's night churches. That's a church that remains open to vulnerable populations for 24 hours. After entering and speaking with volunteers, the 34-year-old asked if he could use the piano to engage his lifelong coping mechanism, music. He began playing a rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody while volunteers and visitors gathered to watch.
"There's a lot of noise in my head," he said, "but when I play piano, my head goes quiet. I feel calm."
A volunteer posted a video of the performance on Facebook, where it quickly spread, amassing hundreds of comments asking for the identity of this young man known as the Night Church Pianist.
After Rhys came forward, he was invited to play the song at a specialty charity gig where he rubbed shoulders with British stars like Ronnie Wood, Peter Andre, and the cast of the EastEnders. Best of all, he's secured a safe place he can call home, moving into a new coastline housing development in West Cornwell. He has collaborated with Peter Andre on a television pilot, and is looking forward to a series of gigs scheduled in a variety of venues, including a theater production in Bristol.
"I don't see myself as a professional pianist or a celebrity figure. I just love to play the piano to raise money for homeless charities and good causes." And in the 30 months since his nightclub performance, he has raised over 40,000 pounds for charity.
He now uses any bleak memories from the streets to motivate him to help and inspire others.
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