bluegrass

Michael Cleveland & Friends

1 upcoming festival

Indiana fiddler with a stack of IBMA player-of-the-year trophies, known for ferocious bow speed and a tone built on Kentucky contest-style playing.

Michael Cleveland grew up in Henryville, Indiana, and was playing on stage as a child, appearing with bluegrass acts while still in his teens. Blind since infancy, he built a style out of the Kentucky contest fiddling tradition and the harder-edged playing of Bobby Hicks and Kenny Baker, with a bow arm fast enough to make twin-fiddle parts sound like one player. He spent time with Rhonda Vincent and the Rage before leading his own band, Flamekeeper. The International Bluegrass Music Association has named him fiddle player of the year more times than any other musician.

bluegrass