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Lovin' of the Game

by Michael Cleveland

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Luxury Liner 03:29
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Five Points 05:18
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Contact 03:19
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(Luke Bulla/Guy Clark/Jon Randall) Redding Theory Music (ASCAP)/EMI April Music, Inc./GSC Music (ASCAP)/Reynsong Publishing Corporation/Rezemblance Music/Wha Ya Say Music (BMI) Administered by Anthem Entertainment Michael Cleveland – Fiddle Luke Bulla – Lead Vocal and Fiddle Tim O’Brien – Harmony Vocal and Fiddle
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about

Distinguished bluegrass artist and instrumentalist Michael Cleveland is unequivocally nothing short of extraordinary. LOVIN’ OF THE GAME, is the upcoming release from the 12-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year and GRAMMY Award-winner, and is built upon a rock-solid foundation of bluegrass prowess.

Produced by Jeff White, Cleveland and Sean Sullivan, LOVIN’ OF THE GAME 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 12 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. 

With LOVIN’ OF THE GAME, Michael Cleveland seizes his opportunity at this one wonderful life and swings for the rafters. The album positively hums with energy. Not beholden to one specific genre or pigeonholed label, it showcases Cleveland’s inclusive musical nature — placing value in the process over the output. It is in this release of control that we find something truly sublime: the sound of artists working together in the act of creation without regard for any preconceived notion of what “should” be. The sound of genuine musicianship. Collaboration serves as the bedrock of the album, and that outreach towards community extends well beyond the studio. In one moment, he takes us on a loopy dialogue between fiddle and guitar with two-time IBMA Guitar Player of the Year Billy Strings, delivering a spacey jamgrass rendition of 80s rock classic “For Your Love.” The next, he breaks our hearts with “I Wish I Knew Now What I Knew Then,” a jukebox-ready country waltz pining over lost love, with Cleveland’s lonesome fiddle accompanying Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill’s crooning vocals. Similarly, the instrumental “Contact” is the result of a connection Cleveland made with Matt Carson, another visually-impaired musician, who taught him how he could use the industry standard recording platform, ProTools. It was this knowledge of recording that allowed Cleveland to make this track with no live session or physical interaction between collaborators Cody Kilby, Barry Bales, and Béla Fleck.

“People know me as a traditional bluegrass fiddle player, which is what I love to do,” says Cleveland, “but this album is more than just the pure tradition. It’s a little bit of a departure for me.” Nowhere is that more pronounced than in the lonesome and moody “One Horse Town," a cover of the 2012 release from Southern rock band Blackberry Smoke. Featuring vocals from Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr and Cleveland’s longtime Flamekeeper bandmate, Josh Richards, and buoyed by the steady instrumental backing of Flamekeeper, Cleveland’s rendition coaxes out the tender melancholy of life in a town too small to sustain itself. Leaning into the weight of responsibility and the pain of hoping for more, Cleveland’s fiddle playing anchors the listener into the listlessness of an arrested life — it could almost drown you.

credits

released March 3, 2023

Produced by Jeff White, Michael Cleveland, and Sean Sullivan
Mixed by Sean Sullivan, Michael Cleveland, Jeff White, and Mark Howard
Recorded at The Tractor Shed, Goodlettsville, TN, and Cowboy Arms, Nashville, TN by Sean Sullivan
Charlie Starr’s vocal recorded at West End Sound and engineered by Thomas Tapley
Mastered by Randy LeRoy at Tonal Park, Takoma Park, MD
Photography by Amy Richmond | amyrichmond.com
Graphic Design by Robert Hakalski | visual-machinery.com

Billy Strings appears courtesy of Rounder Records
The Travelin’ McCourys appear courtesy of McCoury Music
Ronnie McCoury appears courtesy of McCoury Music
Tim O’Brien appears courtesy of Howdy Skies Records
Charlie Starr appears courtesy of 3 Legged Records
Vince Gill appears courtesy of MCA Nashville

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about

Michael Cleveland Henryville, Indiana

Michael Cleveland is the most awarded International Bluegrass Music Association Fiddle Player of the Year, with twelve wins and his band has won Instrumental Group of the Year seven times. He was the subject of the doc, Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story and has won the GRAMMY for Best Bluegrass Album. He received the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship in 2022. ... more

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