Bluegrass fiddler, Louisville Orchestra teaming up again for Kentucky tour

For the past few years, just ahead of Kentucky Derby time, visitors arriving into Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport would be greeted by live bluegrass, a defining sound of the region served up as a cultural greeting. As passengers departed planes and entered the concourse, string music would become their first encounter with the city they were now part of.

Michael Cleveland made the gig a regular part of his yearly performance calendar, even as his reputation as one of bluegrass’ most audacious fiddle players grew to where he was leading his own band, rubbing shoulders with the genre’s most renown innovators and, in the process, chalking up a Grammy Award.

But this spring, Cleveland is having to let other bluegrass pros welcome Derby revelers. He has a decidedly different gig, one still very much tied to furthering the legacy of bluegrass within the state where it was born. Beginning this weekend, Cleveland and his band Flamekeeper will reteam with the Louisville Orchestra for the latest edition of the orchestra’s “In Harmony — The Commonwealth Tour.” Under the baton of music director Teddy Abrams, the tour will bring a repertoire balancing classical with bluegrass for performances in Shelbyville, Prestonsburg, Ashland and Mt. Sterling.

The alliance between Cleveland and Abrams is not new. Aside from previous performance and recording collaborations, they connected for their first set of In Harmony concerts last year. For Cleveland, a native of the Southern Indiana town of Henryville, the performances continue a fascination with classical music and the Louisville Orchestra that began long ago.

“It’s kind of a full circle thing when you really stop to think about it,” Cleveland said. “I started playing the fiddle, the violin, when I was four years old. I always knew I wanted to play bluegrass, but I learned how to play at the Kentucky School for the Blind in Louisville (Cleveland has been blind since birth.) They had a classical music program that taught Suzuki violin, so that’s how I started playing. I would learn classical at school and how to play bluegrass on the weekends. But there were also these field trips where we would go to hear the Louisville Orchestra play. I never imagined it would work out for us to ever collaborate. At that time, I wasn’t thinking in those terms at all.”

After graduating high school, Cleveland’s professional bluegrass career kicked into immediate high gear with successive tenures in the bands of Jeff White, Dale Ann Bradley and, most prominently, Rhonda Vincent. He formed the first lineup of Flamekeeper in 2006. While the band has served as his prime performance vehicle ever since, scores of collaborative opportunities came his way. Among them, recordings with of two of bluegrass’ most innovative banjo talents, Béla Fleck (for 2021’s “My Bluegrass Heart” and a subsequent tour) and Tony Trischka (on 2024’s “Earl Jam.”)

“I’m a traditional bluegrass guy,” Cleveland said. “When it comes to bluegrass, I love the traditional, raw, high energy stuff. But I also find that playing and listening to other styles of music have pushed me in a way that has given me new things that I can incorporate into my playing. But the whole Béla thing ... that’s something I never would have imagined.

“I have a good buddy, a banjo player, in Indiana. We would hang out and play music together a lot. I was the traditional bluegrass guy, so I would make him listen to Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe, Don Reno, Alan Shelton, all the traditional guys. Then he would make me listen to Tony Trischka, Béla Fleck, Courtney Johnson, all these more outside progressive guys that I probably wouldn’t have listened to on my own as much. Now we joke about it since I’ve been able to do these things with Béla and Tony Trischka. He’s like, ‘Man, you’re now playing with the people I used to make you listen to.’”

Cleveland’s collaborative spirit also led him to Abrams. After initial projects, including a duo tune for the 2017 compilation album “Louisville Accord,” Abrams planted the idea of more extensive work together that would involve the Louisville Orchestra. Cleveland was flattered but sensed the offer would probably fade from view without being realized.

“I remember Teddy saying, ‘You know, I think it would be great if we do something with your band and the orchestra, like a Pops concert or something.’ I said, ‘Well, that would be awesome. I’d love to,’ but I didn’t really think any more about it. Sometimes that stuff never comes about for whatever reason. But, man, it wasn’t but a few weeks later that we were getting calls saying, ‘Let’s do this. Let’s put this together.’ We did a Pops concert (in 2018) at the (Kentucky) Center for the Arts at Whitney Hall. We’ve tried to get it happening again ever since and it finally worked out last year with the In Harmony tour. We had such a great time doing it that we’re looking forward to it again this year.”

Abrams, in turn, does not skimp on the superlatives when talking about performing with Cleveland.

“Mike Cleveland is one of the greatest fiddle players who’s ever lived,” Abrams said ahead of their first In Harmony concerts in 2024. “The talent level is astounding, and I say that not in the way that we kind of over compliment everybody in today’s society. I’m saying that he’s truly astounding. You won’t believe what you’re seeing. He is miraculous. Also, he’s one of the most genuinely kind people that I know, so this is so special.”

Yet another major collaboration is coming into focus this spring, a new record with fellow bluegrass fiddle giant and Del McCoury Band alumnus Jason Carter. Lexington got a sneak preview of their twin fiddle sound when Cleveland turned up as a surprise guest at Carter’s January 2024 concert at The Burl. Blending bluegrass with elements of swing and gypsy jazz, their first album together, the aptly titled “Carter & Cleveland,” was released in March.

“During pretty much all the times we’ve played together, it’s been an off-the-cuff thing,” Cleveland said. “There’s very rarely been time to rehearse. But we play enough the same way that it just works, which is not an easy thing. You don’t get two fiddle players together and just make something like this happen. But I’ve been a Del McCoury Band fan since I was 13 years old. That was about the time that I met Jason, so he’s been a big influence on my playing. Just having an idea of the stuff he plays helps our whole twin fiddle thing.”

Whether playing bluegrass with another fiddler or performing alongside a full orchestra, the style and approach to live music for Cleveland is secondary to the drive and creativity of the artists bringing it to life.

“It’s surreal almost to hear the music of an orchestra coming back at you as you play. But you know, what it really boils down to one thing — music is music. When you’ve got good musicians working together and everybody has an open mind and is into what you’re doing, it works.”

The Louisville Orchestra’s “In Harmony — The Commonweath Tour” featuring Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper

▪ 7:30 p.m. April 26 at the Martha Layne Collins High School, 801 Discovery Blvd. in Shelbyville.

▪ 7:30 p.m. April 29 at the Mountain Arts Center, 50 Hal Rogers Dr. in Prestonsburg.

▪ 7:30 p.m. April 30 at the Paramount Arts Center, 1300 Winchester Ave. in Ashland.

▪ 7:30 p.m. May 1 at The Arena at Montgomery County High School, 724 Woodford Dr. in Mt. Sterling.

▪ Admission for all performances are free, but RSVP online reservations/tickets are required. No tickets remain for the Shelbyville performance. For admission to the Prestonsburg, Ashland and Mt. Sterling concerts, go to louisvilleorchestra.org/concerts.