Michael Cleveland is an American violinist who plays bluegrass music. On September 18, 1980, he was born.
Cleveland got his start in life in Henryville, Indiana. He was born without eyes, and when he was a toddler, an infection in one ear caused him to lose 80 percent of his hearing in that ear. Cleveland took part in a local Suzuki program when he was four years old. He learned for the first time how to play the violin.
His talent was seen when he was still young. By the time he was in his early teens, he had already performed on A Prairie Home Companion, the Grand Ole Opry, and in front of the United States Congress. After he graduated from the Kentucky School for the Blind, he worked with musicians like Rhonda Vincent and Dale Ann Bradley. He is currently living in Charlestown, Indiana.
The Secret Story of Michael Cleveland’s Life
Validate Films made a documentary about Michael Cleveland’s life called Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story. In it, they look into his life.
Director John Presley makes a fascinating movie about a man whose whole life has been about his love of bluegrass music. In the feature-length film, he skillfully mixes together recent live performances, interviews with Michael’s family, friends, and fellow musicians, and video, audio, and photos from Michael’s childhood. Michael’s love for music began to grow when he was young.
His grandparents liked bluegrass music, and they had a big collection of records and 8-tracks. He can still remember the first time he heard a violin and how completely and totally enchanted he was by it. After that, he spent nights with his head pressed against a speaker to get as much information as possible.
Michael says that, unlike most musicians, he likes to play the fan favorite Orange Blossom Special, even though most musicians avoid it. He started playing the guitar because of the music, and now he likes finding new ways to express himself through it.
The story mostly goes in order of time, starting with Michael’s parents’ worries when they found out about his disability before he was born. By the time he went to the Kentucky School for the Blind, where he took many of his first music lessons, he had lived a long and eventful life. During his childhood, he went to this school for a while.
Most of the movie is told in order. The most moving part of the movie is Michael’s voiceover, in which he talks about his first week at the residential school when he was a little boy.
After his parents dropped him off at the institution, his roommate told him that he would never be able to go back home and would have to stay there for the rest of his life. When he finally saw his family the next weekend, he was happy to find that his fears had been replaced by pleasant surprises.
Several of Michael’s bandmates from Flamekeeper also give honest interviews for the documentary. This helps to show what Michael has been going through in his life more recently. Even though it’s clear that they respect Michael’s skills as a musician and as the leader of his band, they also talk about how he used to have problems with drinking.
They talk about how Michael’s problems affected his life on the road and how other musicians thought of him. Everyone in Michael’s band agrees that his decision a few years ago to stop drinking was one of the smartest things he could have done in that situation. People told him that he should be praised for it.
Without a doubt, Flamekeeper is a motivating book. When you hear about Michael’s health problems, like how he lost a lot of hearing as a child because of ear infections, it’s natural to wonder how he became such a skilled and well-respected artist. But this is in no way, shape, or form a “poor me” story.
It’s more of a look behind the scenes and into the everyday life of a famous singer who has lived a pretty private life up until now. Some of the most memorable parts of the movie are when the camera follows Michael as he goes about his daily life, like when he gives lessons over Skype, uses the voice-recognition software on his iPhone to find apps, or calls a Lyft to get him to a jam. This look into Michael’s life should be interesting for people who like bluegrass music and Michael.
Disability of Michael Cleveland
Michael Cleveland is a musician who is very good at what he does.
Even though he is blind and has some trouble hearing, he has won 11 times, which is a record. The fiddler was also named the Fiddle Player of the Year for Bluegrass. There is a Grammy Award nomination for Cleveland. Even though he can’t see, he has done all of this.
Cleveland was blind from birth because he was born with a cleft palate. He also lost most of the hearing in his left ear when he was young, but neither of these things stopped him from reaching his goals. He reached the top of his field because of how good he was at music.
“Flamekeeper,” which is also the name of Cleveland’s band, will be the name of the documentary. Cleveland has chosen this way to share what he has learned with the rest of the world.
The documentary starts with his early childhood and goes all the way up to the present day. It tells stories about his struggles, his passions, and the music that has been a part of his life.
Bluegrass music is all about the tug of war between tradition and new ideas, and Michael Cleveland’s fiddle playing is a great example of this. As a child, Cleveland heard a local fiddler play “Orange Blossom Special.” This made him love the song, which sounds like a train, for the rest of his life. The piece’s descriptive tones and percussion bowing are taken to a new level by Cleveland’s improvised versions. Cleveland has an incredible memory for melodies and an uncanny knack for improvising. His music is both based in tradition and driven by his melodic imagination.
Cleveland heard old-time and bluegrass music for the first time when he was young at jams and festivals near his home in Henryville, Indiana. His grandparents held regular bluegrass parties at the American Legion, where he learned to play the fiddle when he was four years old. He went to school for blind people in Louisville, Kentucky, where he learned to play the violin using the Suzuki method. At school, he played the violin, but at home, he played the fiddle. He went to bluegrass festivals with his grandparents. At Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Festival in Bean Blossom, Indiana, he saw a lot of famous players. At the festival, Cleveland, who was only nine years old at the time, got to play with Monroe, who was a National Heritage Fellow in the first class of 1982. When Cleveland was 12, he met music historian Dave Samuelson. Samuelson saw how interested and talented the young musician was. Samuelson put together a set of tapes with Braille labels for the young musician. These tapes were Cleveland’s best way to learn about bluegrass music. Cleveland’s music skills and number of songs grew, and in 1993, he played with the Bluegrass Youth All-Stars at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards show.
After he graduated from high school, Cleveland began to play professionally, first with Jeff White and then with Dale Ann Bradley and Rhonda Vincent. Cleveland, on the other hand, had always wanted to be the leader of his own band. In 2006, he formed Flamekeeper, which has won the “Instrumental Group of the Year” award from the IBMA seven times. Josh Richards, Nathan Livers, Jasiah Shrode, and Chris Douglas are all part of Flamekeeper. Cleveland has toured with his band and also played with a long list of bluegrass legends. Still, he stays connected to his hometown in Southern Indiana. When he’s not on tour, he still plays music with his friends.
Early years
Cleveland was born in the Indiana town of Henryville. He was born totally blind, and an ear infection when he was young took away 80% of the hearing in one ear. When he was 4, he took part in a local Suzuki program and learned how to play the violin for the first time. His talent was noticed early on, and by the time he was in his early teens, he had already played on the Grand Ole Opry, A Prairie Home Companion, and in front of the U.S. Congress.
After he graduated from the Kentucky School for the Blind, he played with Dale Ann Bradley and Rhonda Vincent, among other musicians.
He lives in Charlestown, Indiana, right now.
Awards
In 2003, his first solo album on Rounder Records, Fire Holder, won the Instrumental Album of the Decade award from the International Rock Music Association. In 2005, he and Ben Jameson won the same award for Tom Adams and Michael Cleveland Live at the Ragged Edge. His third award was for the album Let ‘Er Go, Boys!, which came out in 2006.
Cleveland and his band Flamekeeper won the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Awards) for Fiddle Player of the Year in 2015 and Instrumental Group of the Year in 2010 for the third time.
Cleveland had already won Fiddle Player of the Year in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Cleveland’s solo album, Fiddler’s Dream, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2018 for Best Bluegrass Album.
Two years later, with his album Tall Fiddler, he won the same award.
Touring
In 2007, Cleveland and his band Flamekeeper played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as a part of the Bluegrass Sundays Winter Concert Series.
In July of 2010, the group played at the Sally Creek Music Festival in Thames Center, Ontario. [9]
Solo albums
- Sawing on the C String was released on its own in 1998.
- Flame Keeper, released by Rover Records in 2002
- Let Er Go Boys (Rounder Records) 2006
- 2016’s Fiddler’s Dream (Compass Records)
- 2019 (Compass Records) Tall Fiddler