Michael Cleveland

Biography

Charles Michael Cleveland (born September 18, 1980) is an American bluegrass fiddle player. He also plays the mandolin.

Early life

Cleveland was born in Henryville, Indiana. He was born completely blind and a childhood ear infection caused him to lose 80% of his hearing in one ear. He first learned to play violin at a local Suzuki program when he was 4 years old. His skill was recognized at an early age, with appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, A Prairie Home Companion and before the United States Congress in his early teens.
After graduating from the Kentucky School for the Blind, he performed with various musicians including Dale Ann Bradley and Rhonda Vincent.
As of 2020, he was living in Charlestown, Indiana.

Awards and honors

His first solo project on Rounder Records, Flame Keeper, won Cleveland the International Bluegrass Music Association Fiddler of the Year award in 2002, and he shared the same award with Ben Jameson in 2005 for Tom Adams and Michael Cleveland Live at the Ragged Edge. His third IBMA award came for his 2006 album Let 'Er Go, Boys!.
Cleveland won the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Awards) 2015 Fiddle Player of the Year and the 2010 Instrumental Group of the Year with his band Flamekeeper, for the third year. Cleveland had previously won Fiddle Player of the Year in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
In 2018 Cleveland was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album for his solo album, Fiddler's Dream. Two years later, he won in the same category with his album Tall Fiddler.
Officials from Charlestown, Indiana designated February 5, 2020, as Michael Cleveland Day in recognition of his Grammy award for his Tall Fiddler album.
He is a recipient of a 2022 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
In 2024, Cleveland received the Bluegrass Star Award from the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation of Dallas, Texas. The award is bestowed upon bluegrass artists who do an exemplary job of advancing traditional bluegrass music while preserving its character and heritage.

Touring

In 2007, Cleveland and his band Flamekeeper entertained as part of the Bluegrass Sundays Winter Concert Series in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The group performed at the Sally Creek Music Festival in Thames Centre, Ontario, in July, 2010.
In 2022, Cleveland joined Béla Fleck's touring band for My Bluegrass Heart.

Solo albums

Sawing On The C String (self released) 1998
Flame Keeper (Rounder) 2002
Let Er Go Boys (Rounder) 2006
Fiddler's Dream (Compass) 2016
Tall Fiddler (Compass) 2019
Lovin' of the Game (Compass) 2023

With Tom Adams

Live at the Ragged Edge (Rounder Records) 2004

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper

Leavin' Town (Rounder Records) 2008
Fired Up (Rounder Records) 2011
On Down The Line (Compass Records) 2014