Moxietalk With Kirt Jacobs

The world tends to look at accomplishments in the form of accolades and although only in his mid-30’s, Michael Cleveland has plenty to his credit. After picking up the fiddle at age 4, Michael’s musical momentum began to propel him forward towards early success. “When I started taking lessons at age 4,” he remembers, “I told the teacher right up front that I wanted to learn how to play bluegrass and I wanted to play ‘Orange Blossom Special.'” Reluctant as they were, his teachers quickly found a reason to his rhyme, helping him progress to the point when, at age 9, Michael was invited to sit in with the legendary Bill Monroe at the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival. Soon after, he was hand-picked for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Bluegrass Youth Allstars which led to an invitation by Alison Krauss to bring his virtuosic style to the Grand Ole Opry, all before he was 14 years old. His blistering prowess and technical fluency have since marked him as a sought-after musician, leading to per