MICHAEL CLEVELAND Opens Up About GRAMMY Nomination
RENOWNED BLUEGRASS ARTIST AND VETERAN FIDDLE VIRTUOSO
MICHAEL CLEVELAND
TALKS WITH PEOPLE MAGAZINE AHEAD OF THE GRAMMY AWARDS®
NOMINATED IN THE “BEST BLUEGRASS ALBUM” CATEGORY
MOST AWARDED FIDDLER OF ALL TIME
Above: ‘Lovin’ Of The Game’ Album Artwork
NASHVILLE, TN (February 1, 2024) — Ahead of the upcoming GRAMMY Awards®, Michael Cleveland sat down to chat with PEOPLE Magazine on his GRAMMY® nomination for his latest album, Lovin’ Of The Game, which has earned recognition in the “Best Bluegrass Album” category.
“To have something that I've done recognized by enough people that it receives a nomination like this has me feeling very honored,” he tells People Magazine of his nod for best bluegrass album. Last month, he shared an official statement on the GRAMMY® nomination.
Michael Cleveland — the most awarded fiddler of all time — released Lovin’ Of The Game on March 3, 2023. The album made an impressive debut on the Billboard chart, securing the #3 position for two consecutive weeks starting March 18, 2023. Subsequently, it claimed the coveted #1 spot on the National Bluegrass Survey Top 15 Albums Chart in June 2023, maintaining a strong presence on the chart. The singles from the album also achieved notable success, with the lead single, “Sunny Days (Are Comin’ Once Again),” reaching the pinnacle of the Bluegrass Today Top 20 chart on February 10 and holding the #1 position in both August and September on the National Bluegrass Survey Top 30. Simultaneously, “For Your Love” made its mark at #4.
Built upon a rock-solid foundation of bluegrass prowess, the 12-track album (Compass Records)— produced by Jeff White, Cleveland and Sean Sullivan — showcases the power of fusion, bringing truth to the phrase “greater than the sum of its parts.” Marking Cleveland’s sixth studio album, Lovin’ Of The Game positively hums with energy across the tracks, finding appearances from the likes of Béla Fleck, Billy Strings, Charlie Starr, Jeff White, The Travelin’ McCourys and Vince Gill, among other notable talents.
Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke remarked, “This record is absolutely brilliant…beautiful broad strokes by the masterful Michael Cleveland and his top-notch ensemble. The fact that he allowed me to be a small part of it is a wonderful gift and I appreciate it immensely. Congratulations to Michael and the band on the GRAMMY nomination!”
LOVIN’ OF THE GAME PRAISE:
“... one of modern bluegrass’s most compelling musicians… Michael Cleveland’s new album, Lovin’ of The Game, is an ecstatic document of what the fiddle has meant to his story — and what he hopes to mean to its history.”
— Grayson Haver Currin, New York Times, February 28, 2023
“[‘One Horse Town’] is a driving, healing anthem that coasts overhead like an Appalachian rain cloud, ready and able to wash the land clean of sorrow or regret.”
— Relix, February 16, 2023
“‘Lovin’ of the Game’ will see a departure from the traditional, and an arrival into something else entirely, a genre-spanning display of true musicianship.”
— Alli Patton, American Songwriter, January 19, 2023
“Cleveland has made quite the name for himself as arguably the greatest bluegrass fiddle player for this generation, but with this upcoming album, the fiddler is ready to reach a whole new level.”
— Brady Cox, Whiskey Riff, January 20, 2023
“Michael Cleveland continues to be a significant part of the resurgent swell we’ve seen in the popularity of bluegrass over the last few years. Both as a solo artist and as a collaborator, he’s brought such authority and passion to the fiddle discipline, it’s infectious with the audience.”
— Kyle Coroneos, Saving Country Music, January 1, 2023
“Michael and the band have added a bluegrass drive to this number [‘The Lovin’ of the Game’]... it’s a smokin’ cut.”
— John Lawless, Bluegrass Today, December 9, 2022
Above: Michael Cleveland; Credit: Amy Richmond
MICHAEL CLEVELAND ONLINE
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ABOUT MICHAEL CLEVELAND:
Michael Cleveland, a distinguished figure in the realm of bluegrass music, boasts an unparalleled record as the recipient of 12 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) “Fiddle Player of the Year” awards. Notably, he has clinched the IBMA “Instrumental Performance of the Year” title six times, while his band, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, has secured the coveted “Instrumental Group of the Year” accolade on seven occasions. In 2019, Cleveland’s remarkable journey became the focus of the documentary “Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story,” and his 2019 album, Tall Fiddler, won the GRAMMY® for “Best Bluegrass Album.” Cleveland stands as a 2018 inductee into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame, and his outstanding contributions were further recognized with the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship in 2022. Once again, Cleveland has earned a GRAMMY® nomination in the “Best Bluegrass Album” category for his most recent album, Lovin’ Of The Game, which was released March of 2023.
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