Fiddle beckoned headliner when he was just a toddler

When organizers of the Tug Hill Bluegrass Festival looked around to book its main act this year, they didn't settle on second fiddle.

The Wall Street Journal has called Michael Cleveland "the fiddle virtuoso of this generation." He's a five-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's Fiddle Player of the Year award. His band, Flamekeeper, received the IBMA's Instrumental Group of the Year honors the past two years.

Mr. Cleveland, 29, was attracted to the fiddle as a toddler. Nobody in his family played an instrument, but he said his grandparents would take him to bluegrass festivals around his Indiana hometown.

"When I heard the fiddle for the first time, I was hooked," Mr. Cleveland said recently from his home in Charlestown, Ind. "It was do it or die."

For a while, he was trained on classical violin, but he couldn't resist the calling of bluegrass.

"It took me a while to get the hang of the fiddle, like the basic feel of it and how to hold it," Mr. Cleveland said.

He began taking his fiddle to local bluegrass festivals, playing for crowds on and off stage.

"A lot of local players in the area were patient and told me what I needed to know," Mr. Cleveland said.

In 1993, he made his Grand Ole Opry debut as a guest of Alison Krauss. After high school, he briefly toured with Dale Ann Bradley and Coon Creek before joining Rhonda Vincent and the Rage in 2000, a year after he graduated from the Kentucky School for the Blind.

He won his first IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year award in 2002.

"It's such an amazing instrument," Mr. Cleveland said. "You can really express yourself with a fiddle. I have a great time playing it."

He credits other expert fiddle players for part of his success.

"I've listened to a lot of players and I borrowed many licks from them," he said. "I'm glad there's no copyright on them, or I'd be in jail."

He enjoys sharing a sense of spontaneity at his live shows.

"I like to go out on a limb on some days," he said. "On some days, I'll play like what's on the record and another day I'll try to play it another way entirely. But I've had a few times where that limb broke off. But I think it's cool to hear somebody do that."

He enjoys listening to live recordings of other acts.

"I like to listen to music from the shows where you never know what to expect," he said.

Mr. Cleveland's first CD, "Flame Keeper," released in 2002 on the Rounder label, was chosen as IBMA's Instrumental Album of the Year.

His band, Flamekeeper, was formed two and a half years ago. It consists of Darrell Webb, vocals and guitar; Jesse Brock, vocals and mandolin; Marshall Wilborn, vocals and bass; and Jessie Baker on banjo.

"We write some of our songs, but we try to dig up old tunes that haven't been done in a while and put our own stamp on it," Mr. Cleveland said. "We're also given songs. We have a bunch of writers kind enough to send us tunes."

He said he's constantly surprised by the talent in his band.

"Marshall Wilborn has written tons of great bluegrass tunes," Mr. Cleveland said.

He recalled one day while they were on the tour bus and Mr. Wilborn began rattling off songs he had written. They were familiar to Mr. Cleveland, but he didn't know they were penned by his band mate.

"We were all pleasantly surprised by that," Mr. Cleveland said. "And we're still finding more he wrote every day."

Mr. Cleveland is flattered by all the awards and accolades given to him and his band.

"It's a great band," he said. "We gel together and we're having a lot of fun. We do what we do and a lot of people like it, which makes it all the better."