Cane Mill Road is a fan favorite in Raleigh. The band has played IBMA nearly every year it’s been in town.
Band leader and founder Liam Purcell grew up in Deep Gap, North Carolina, just down the road from where Doc Watson’s home. Liam first performed for the PineCone audience as a teenager on the IBMA Youth Stage. In the years since the band was named IBMA’s 2019 Momentum Band of the Year, appeared on David Holt’s State of Music and landed albums on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Charts.
No Depression Magazine called the band “…the future of bluegrass.” Bluegrass Today remarked that “…their skill is clearly unquestionable.” Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine wrote that the band is “…making their mark on bluegrass and fueling the future.”
In 2022, Liam Purcell surprised everyone by going out to Colorado and sweeping the Rockygrass Instrumental Contests. That year Liam took first in guitar, mandolin and banjo. He was the first person in the history of the prestigious contest to do so.
“Life is neither straightforward nor predictable,” wrote Liam Purcell for Bluegrass Situation. He’s describing his song ‘Crooked As You Go.’ “It’s not a journey in a straight line, rather a crooked path filled with twists and turns. As touring musicians, we can all relate to this through the eyes of the industry we operate in, but the implication rings true for many folks in many different situations. In the end, these unexpected adventures, trials, and sidetracks are often the most beautiful parts of the journey as one reflects on the path that led them to the present moment.”
