Biography:

Michael Stamper December 12, 1948 – February 17, 2021, Lexington, Kentucky – Michael Stamper, better known as Nick Stump, the “High Sheriff of the Maxwell Corridor,” died peacefully at The University of Kentucky Hospital on February 17, 2021. True to the end, he saw himself out quietly after being served one more for the road by his immensely capable doctors. He lived 72 human years (144 in guitar-player years), born on October 12, 1948. Young Michael arrived to this world in Hazel Green, Kentucky, to Alice Stamper (née Gabbard) and Albert Stamper of the “fiddling and drinking Stampers, not the ones with money,” as he often noted. Nick received an education at Hindman Settlement School, and was drafted into the United States Air Force, serving in the Vietnam War as an intelligence analyst and unofficial United States ambassador to the women of Thailand. On his return home, he gained notoriety for his gubernatorial run on a platform that promised to return “Bonanza” to TV. He is best known as the band leader of the Metropolitan Blues All Stars, an inconceivably tight band of “hillbillies that played the blues,” around the country for almost a decade, releasing acclaimed albums and opening for Engelbert Humperdinck.
Nick Stump was a poet, a pundit, a screenwriter, a veteran, an outlaw, a storyteller, a scoundrel, a Rook champion, a yellow-dog Democrat, an autodidact, a proud son of the bluegrass, and a citizen of the Big Blue Nation. He loved America, Ale-8, bourbon, and singing his stories to anyone that needed to hear them. He was a member of no church, preferring to do his praying in the closet and in foxholes. Being Nick Stump was a hard job. He shared his joy easily and hid his pain masterfully. In addition to his parents and wife, he was preceded in death by his musical brother, Frank Schapp. He is survived by at least two loving and extremely patient children, Brian and Marea Stamper (but who are we kidding, Nick may have sired a few wild cards out there), his beloved daughter-in-law Tracy Stamper, his grandchildren, Vicki, Brinn, and Emma Stamper, Ashton Stotts, Cody Stotts (Hailey), great granddaughter Heidi Stotts, his musical brothers, Rodney Hatfield and David White, his chosen sister, Jane Ethel, and untold numbers of hot babes who are surely in mourning too. Nick was quickly followed in death by Rush Limbaugh, which is totally just a coincidence and not anything he had any kind of supernatural influence over.

Credits: