Cane Mill Road, the youthful contemporary bluegrass band from western North Carolina, has signed to record with Patuxent Music in Maryland.
Though not exclusively focused on young string acts, Tom Mindte with Patuxent has long focused attention on deserving artists and bands in their teens and early twenties. In many cases, this has given them the chance to be featured on bluegrass radio to a wider audience much sooner than larger labels would even consider them.
The band consists of 15-year-old Liam Purcell on mandolin and fiddle, 18-year-old Tray Wellington on banjo, 20-year-old guitarist Casey Lewis, and 20-year-old Eliot Smith on bass.
Purcell says that they spent six days at Mindte’s studio in February, and created the 14 tracks for their upcoming Patuxent release, Gap To Gap, their second album to date.
“We wrote this music, so it speaks to who we are and where we came from.
We are honored to be on the Patuxent label not only because of its long history producing bluegrass, but because of the mentorship we get as young musicians from a legend like Tom. We are so proud of what Tom helped us capture in the studio.
It’s like testosterone, but with a ‘T’ for tone. It’s sort of reflects where we are in life as young men, as do much of the lyrics we wrote which are about traveling, rambling, and trying to find yourself.”
Despite their youth, these guys have been playing together the past four years. They are serious about their music, and the industry is catching up to what they are doing. They are endorsed by a number of instrument, capo, and string manufacturing companies already.
Here’s a live version of the next album’s title track, written by Casey Lewis.
Look for Gap To Gap to be released in July on Patuxent.
