{{short description|American bluegrass fiddle player|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{distinguish|text=the singer, songwriter, and member of the musical group Indeep}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox musical artist | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | name = Michael Cleveland | image = Jesse Brock (mandolin) & Michael Cleveland (fiddle) @ Wintergrass 2008 (2313456173).jpg | caption = Cleveland (right) performing with Jesse Brock (left) in 2008 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1980|09|18}} | birth_place = Henryville, Indiana, U.S. | birth_name = Charles Michael Cleveland | genre = {{Flatlist| * Bluegrass * country * American folk}} | instrument = Fiddle, mandolin | years_active = 1994–present | label = Rounder | website = https://www.flamekeeperband.com/ }} '''Charles Michael Cleveland'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/902812085 |title=BRIGHT AND EARLY |website=ASCAP |publisher=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers |access-date=March 17, 2023}}</ref> (born September 18, 1980) is an American bluegrass fiddle player. He also plays the mandolin.<ref name="credits">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=2025 |title=Michael Cleveland: Credits |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-cleveland-mn0001875914#credits |website=AllMusic |access-date=November 29, 2025}}</ref>
==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.<ref name="am" /> 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.<ref name="am">{{cite web|title =Michael Cleveland: Biography |first=Zac|last=Johnson |publisher=Allmusic| url ={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=michael-cleveland-p512607/biography|pure_url=yes}} |accessdate =2010-12-28}}</ref>
After graduating from the Kentucky School for the Blind, he performed with various musicians including Dale Ann Bradley and Rhonda Vincent.<ref name="am" />
{{asof|2020}}, he was living in Charlestown, Indiana.<ref name="lawless">{{cite web |url=https://bluegrasstoday.com/its-michael-cleveland-day/ |title=It's Michael Cleveland Day! |last=Lawless |first=John |date=February 5, 2020 |website=Bluegrass Today |access-date=June 2, 2023}}</ref>
==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,<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=2025 |title=Recipient History |url=https://ibma.org/awards-by-year/ |website=International Bluegrass Music Association |access-date=2026-04-15}}</ref> 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!''.<ref>{{cite web|title =Let 'Er Go, Boys: Review |first=Ronnie |last=Lankford |publisher=Allmusic| url ={{AllMusic|class=album|id=let-er-go-boys-r832523/review|pure_url=yes}} |accessdate =2010-12-28}}</ref>
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,<ref>{{cite web|title =Leaving Town: Review |first=James |last=Monger |publisher=Allmusic| url ={{AllMusic|class=album|id=leaving-town-r1385019|pure_url=yes}} |accessdate =2010-12-28}}</ref> for the third year.<ref>[http://www.ibma.org/ibma.awards/currentpress/list_winners.asp IBMA website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013055637/http://www.ibma.org/ibma.awards/currentpress/list_winners.asp |date=2008-10-13 }} Current awards</ref> Cleveland had previously won Fiddle Player of the Year in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.<ref>[http://www.ibma.org/ibma.awards/recipients/index.asp IBMA website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223141121/http://www.ibma.org/ibma.awards/recipients/index.asp |date=2009-02-23 }} Past awards</ref>
In 2018 Cleveland was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album for his solo album, ''Fiddler's Dream''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flamekeeperband.com/michael-cleveland-nominated-for-grammy-award/|title=Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper {{!}} Michael Cleveland Nominated for OSCAR Award|website=www.flamekeeperband.com|date=28 November 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-29}}</ref> Two years later, he won in the same category with his album ''Tall Fiddler''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/winners-nominees/122/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322203711/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/winners-nominees/122|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 22, 2019|title=GRAMMY Awards Winners & Nominees for Best Bluegrass Album|language=en-US|access-date=2021-04-17}}</ref>
Officials from Charlestown, Indiana designated February 5, 2020, as Michael Cleveland Day in recognition of his Grammy award for his ''Tall Fiddler'' album.<ref name="lawless" />
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/list?title=&field_year_value=2022 |title=NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2022 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=October 1, 2021}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bluegrassheritage.org/michael-cleveland//|title=Bluegrass Heritage Foundation presents Bluegrass Star Award® to Michael Cleveland|website=BluegrassHeritage.org}}</ref>
==Touring== In 2007, Cleveland and his band Flamekeeper entertained as part of the Bluegrass Sundays Winter Concert Series in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.<ref>''Strings'', newsletter of the Pineridge Bluegrass Folklore Society, January 2007</ref> The group performed at the Sally Creek Music Festival in Thames Centre, Ontario, in July, 2010.<ref>Sally Creek Music Festival official program, July 2010</ref>
In 2022, Cleveland joined Béla Fleck's touring band for My Bluegrass Heart.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.belafleck.com/collaborations/bela-fleck-my-bluegrass-heart | title=Béla Fleck My Bluegrass Heart | date=August 29, 2021 }}</ref>
==Discography==
===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
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.flamekeeperband.com/ Official website] *{{Discogs artist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland, Michael}} Category:20th-century American fiddlers Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:21st-century American fiddlers Category:21st-century American male musicians Category:Living people Category:American bluegrass fiddlers Category:People from Henryville, Indiana Category:Rounder Records artists Category:1980 births Category:Country musicians from Indiana Category:American blind fiddlers Category:American male fiddlers Category:People from Charlestown, Indiana Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:American musicians with disabilities