Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road and Diane Zeigler

$22 Advance / $26 Door / $10 Livestream Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present Nashville-based bluegrass quintet Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road and Vermont-based singer/songwriter Diane Zeigler. Characterized by No Depression as “the future of bluegrass,” Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road weave innovation, tradition, and excellence into a distinctive musical experience. Though still only 23, North Carolina native Liam Purcell has already established himself in the world of American string-band music. Growing up in Deep Gap, less than a mile from the home of legendary guitarist Doc Watson, Purcell was steeped in Appalachian old-time and bluegrass traditions from an early age. After leaving Appalachia, Purcell moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music, following in the footsteps of Molly Tuttle, the Infamous Stringdusters, Sierra Hull, Crooked Still, and many others who emerged from the college’s acclaimed American Roots Program. In 2022, Purcell shook the bluegrass world by sweeping the RockyGrass Instrumental Championships in Colorado, taking first-place honors on mandolin, banjo, and guitar. He remains the only person to win multiple championships in the same year. After earning his degree in String Performance, Purcell graduated from Berklee in May 2024 and promptly embarked on more than two months of intensive touring. Now based in Nashville, he maintains his Deep Gap roots, bringing them to the stage each night as he introduces new audiences to the sounds and spirit of the Appalachian mountains where his musical journey began. A winner of eight national songwriting awards, Vermont’s Diane Zeigler combines a crystalline vocal style with distinctive open-tuning guitar work, crafting songs that have earned her recognition as “one of the most talented singer-songwriters New England has produced” ( The Music Matters ). Zeigler emerged on the Boston folk scene in the early 1990s and quickly established herself as an important voice in the era’s new singer-songwriter movement. Her debut CD on Rounder Records was released in 1995 to critical acclaim. She went on to release three additional independent albums, each reaching No. 1 on national folk radio playlists, while balancing her growing family. Following the birth of her third child in 2006, she stepped away from music entirely. Earlier this year, with her youngest child entering college, Zeigler began writing songs again. She is now working on a new album and returning to regional performance. She will be joined by her husband, bassist Geoffrey Sather, formerly of Brattleboro, as well as Bruce and Barry Stockwell of the Stockwell Brothers.