CANE MILL ROAD

CANE MILL ROAD
FIVE SPEED

No Label
No Number

It’s a good sign that there are so many fresh faces coming into bluegrass these days. They don’t get much fresher or younger looking than Cane Mill Road. The band, already making a name for itself, has released its first album, Five Speed. The group from Deep Gap, N.C. (Doc Watson country) was a 2017 IBMA World Of Bluegrass Showcase Band and represented the United States at the 2015 International Music Festival in Argentina.

The album, which stands out for its clean sound, was produced by two-time Grammy winner Cathy Fink and also Tom Mindte of Patuxent Music. The album is a mix of bluegrass, folk, and Americana. The ten tracks cover The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Don Stover, and Bill Monroe, with a couple of original pieces thrown in. Guitar/mandolin/fiddle/clawhammer banjo player Liam Purcell handles the vocal duties and is joined by Fink on “Things In Life,” one of the strongest pieces on the album. Tray Wellington plays banjo and guitar, and Eliot Smith holds the beat on bass. Wellington’s original “Trajan’s Ride” is topnotch. Also in the band, but not on the album is guitarist Casey Lewis.

As so many new groups are doing, this album was produced via crowdfunding and without a label. It’s a solid debut effort. (Cane Mill Road, P.O. Box 249, Deep Gap, NC 28618, www.canemillroad.com.)MKB