“Homesick for Virginia” from Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road’s upcoming album Yellow Line isn’t a boisterous or titanic musical work. It, instead, embodies the best virtues of bluegrass without ever attempting to mimic other material and strikes me as a thoroughly personal work rather than a studied effort to sound authentic.
URL: https://canemillroad.com/
Too many bluegrass performers are apt to check off a few mandatory instrumental boxes, affect a twang in their vocals, add some perfunctory harmonies, and call it a day. Purcell and Cane Mill Road’s “Homesick for Virginia”, however, effortlessly summons up timeless spirit without ever hinting at cookie cutter origins. There’s something about the story of a country boy losing his way in the big city that resonates with songwriter and singer Colton Kerchner that he’s able to convey with impressive feeling and unimpeachable honesty.
The lean and focused language of the song’s lyrics is outstanding Americana performed poetry. Conversational, shorn of ostentatious imagery, it nonetheless conveys the song’s subject matter with pointed emotion rather than obscuring the songwriting intent. Kerchner’s voice is an outstanding vehicle for delivering these words. His vocal tone never sounds unduly affected to my ears and it’s obvious that he’s keyed into the emotion of the piece as well as dovetailing his voice to work alongside the instrumentation.
It’s the usual assortment of mandolin, banjo, and other customary bluegrass musical touches The band members along with Purcell achieve an effortless interweaving from the beginning and play with loose-limbed confidence for full performance. They peak with the song’s chorus, easily the high point of the track, and sound inspired by the equally effortless vocal harmonies that underline this portion of the song.
Single releases are often representative of the albums they headline and, if this is the case with “Homesick for Virginia”, the remaining cuts included on Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road’s new release should rank among the finest music that the genre has produced in recent memory. I’m taken with the naturalness of this effort and its unequivocal directness, but I’m equally impressed with the stellar musicianship fueling each second of this instant classic.
They make it sound so easy. There’s nothing labored or overcooked about this track and the interplay between Purcell, Kerchner, and their bandmates comes across like first take magic, playing together as an unit, rather than rehearsed ad nauseum. It’s the way that the best bluegrass should sound.
It’s obvious to me that they are steeped in this music. They aren’t bloodless academics pinning butterflies under glass but, instead, skilled musicians and writers intent on breathing new life into a venerable tradition. Self-consciousness and cliché are far from removed from this particular musical equation. Instead, Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road’s “Homesick for Virginia” is blues you can use, and full of the same magic that has made bluegrass a staple of American musical life for well over a century and counting. In the hands of musicians and performers such as this, bluegrass will continue to live and prosper.
Garth Thomas