Biography

MICHAEL CLEVELAND & FLAMEKEEPER RELEASE FIRED UP
ON ROUNDER RECORDS
NEW CD IN STORES MARCH 29


1. Dixie Special 2:25
2. Big Wide Strum 3:29
3. I’m Yours 3:04
4. I'm Gonna Ride That Steamboat 2:41
5. Goin' Up Dry Branch 3:19
6. The Nights Are So Long 2:44
7. Untrue Blues 3:37
8. I’ve Got The Railroad Blues 2:25
9. Slowly 2:41
10. Monster Truck 2:40
11. Hard Time Banjo Blues 3:20
12. Going Back To Old Virginia 2:43
13. Maine Line 3:21
14. Bigger Hands Than Mine 3:20

UPC number 0 11661 0659 2 5

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Dixie Special – (Tom Adams, Three Twenty Three Music, BMI)
Tom Adams – lead vocal and guitar
Jesse Brock – tenor vocal and mandolin
Marshall Wilborn – baritone vocal and bass
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Jessie Baker – banjo

Big Wide Strum – (Tom Adams, Three Twenty Three Music, BMI)
Tom Adams – lead vocal and guitar
Jesse Brock – tenor vocal and mandolin
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Marshall Wilborn – bass
Jessie Baker – banjo

I'm Yours – (Tom Adams, Three Twenty Three Music, BMI)
Tom Adams – lead vocal and guitar
Jesse Brock – tenor and high baritone vocals and mandolin
Marshall Wilborn – tenor vocal and bass
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Jessie Baker – banjo
Billy Thomas – snare drum

I'm Gonna Ride That Steamboat – (Tom T. Hall, Unichappell Music Inc., BMI)
Marshall Wilborn – lead vocal and bass
Jesse Brock – tenor vocal and mandolin
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Jessie Baker – banjo
Tom Adams – guitar

Goin' Up Dry Branch – (Buddy Spicher/Jimmy Martin, Bocephus Music, Inc., BMI)
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Jessie Baker – banjo
Jesse Brock – mandolin
Tom Adams – guitar
Marshall Wilborn - bass
Billy Thomas – snare drum

The Nights Are So Long – (Dudley Connell, Happy Valley Music, BMI)
Tom Adams – lead vocal and guitar
Jesse Brock – tenor vocal and mandolin
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Marshall Wilborn – bass
Jessie Baker – banjo

Untrue Blues – (Jessie Baker, Music Baker Publishing, BMI)
Jessie Baker – lead vocal and banjo
Jesse Brock – tenor vocal and mandolin
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Marshall Wilborn – bass
Tom Adams – guitar

I've Got The Railroad Blues – (Rabon Delmore, Unichappell Music Inc., BMI)
Marshall Wilborn – lead vocal and bass
Jesse Brock – tenor vocal and mandolin
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Jessie Baker – banjo
Tom Adams – guitar

Slowly – (Webb Pierce/Tommy Hill, Universal Cedarwood Publishing, BMI)
Tom Adams – lead vocal and guitar
Jesse Brock – tenor vocal and mandolin
Marshall Wilborn – baritone vocal and bass
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Jessie Baker – banjo

Monster Truck – (Tom Adams, Three Twenty Three Music, BMI)
Tom Adams – lead vocal and guitar
Jesse Brock – tenor vocal and mandolin
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Marshall Wilborn – bass
Jessie Baker – banjo

Hard Time Banjo Blues – (Tom Adams, Three Twenty Three Music, BMI)
Tom Adams – lead vocal and guitar
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Jesse Brock – mandolin
Marshall Wilborn – bass
Jessie Baker – banjo

Going Back To Old Virginia – (David McLaughlin, Happy Valley Music, BMI)
Tom Adams – lead vocal and guitar
Jesse Brock – tenor vocal and mandolin
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Marshall Wilborn – bass
Jessie Baker – banjo

Maine Line – (Jesse Brock, Mando Land Music, BMI)
Jesse Brock – mandolin
Michael Cleveland – fiddle, rhythm and lead guitar
Jessie Baker – banjo
Marshall Wilborn - bass

Bigger Hands Than Mine – (Marshall Wilborn, Flying Pig Music, BMI)
Marshall Wilborn – lead vocal and bass
Vince Gill – tenor vocal
Michael Cleveland – fiddle
Jesse Brock – mandolin
Tom Adams – guitars
Jessie Baker – banjo



Burlington, MA - Rounder Records will release Fired Up, the much anticipated sophomore band CD from Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper on March 29th. A special World Premier of the project with Katy Daley will air later this month on WAMU's Bluegrass Country as well as a Track By Track with Kyle Cantrell on Sirius/XM.

With their numerous industry awards under their belt, including eight for IBMA's Fiddle Player of the Year and one for SPBGMA's Fiddle Performer of the Year (Michael Cleveland), four for IBMA's Instrumental Group of the Year, two for IBMA's Bass Player of the Year (Marshall Wilborn) and one for IBMA's Mandolin Player of the Year (Jesse Brock), Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper could be basking in their achievements. Instead, they're "Fired Up!" One of the finest hard-driving bluegrass bands today delivers again on this Jeff White and Michael Cleveland co-produced album.

Fired Up is a culmination of years of listening, playing and singing some of the greatest music in the world. Drawing from traditional bluegrass and country writers such as Rabon Delmore, Jimmy Martin, Buddy Spicher, Tom T. Hall, Dudley Connell, David McLaughlin, Webb Pierce and Tommy Hill, Flamekeeper has also tapped into a plethora of talent within their own band with contributions from Tom Adams, Marshall Wilborn, Jesse Brock and former member, Jessie Baker. The song selection on Fired Up is purposely diverse. "Each of us holds a deep reverence for the music that has come to us through the many studio and live recordings of the first generation of bluegrass artists," states Flamekeeper member Tom Adams. "Our music is inextricably linked to those who blazed the trail on which we now travel. Their music, viewed today as traditional, was fueled by cutting-edge instrumental virtuosity and original compositions. Later generations of bluegrass bands, such as the Johnson Mountain Boys, continued to contribute in this way to the bluegrass canon."

When listening to Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper's Fired Up, one can expect nothing less than precise and perfect instrumentation and the band certainly does not disappoint. Case in point: "Goin Up Dry Branch" and "Maine Line." What will come as a pleasant surprise to many is the emergence of this band as modern day poets through the project's song selection. From the tongue-in-cheek "Monster Truck," to the beautifully written and sweetly sung "Bigger Hands Than Mine," with guest vocalist Vince Gill, to the traditional sounds of “Going Back To Old Virginia," Fired Up is proof that Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper is a fiery force to be reckoned with for sure. As the liner notes say: "Michael himself is the bit of plutonium at the core of this particular reactor, one of the greatest improvising violin players in any style; each solo is on fire, and just jaw-droppingly creative. The musicians in Flamekeeper are all spectacular and this coalition of amazing individuals truly achieves lift-off, and a kind of transcendence." (from the notes by Matt Glaser, Artistic Director, American Roots Music Program, Berklee College of Music).

Rounder Records will release Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper's Fired Up on March 29th. For more information on the band and their new CD, please visit www.FlamekeeperBand.com or www.Rounder.com.