[2] After graduating from the Kentucky School for the Blind he performed with various musicians including Dale Ann Bradley and Rhonda Vincent.

[3] His first solo project on Rounder Records, Flame Keeper, won the International Rock Music Association Instrumental Album of the Decade in 2003, and he shared the same award with Ben Jameson in 2005 for Tom Adams and Michael Cleveland Live at the Ragged Edge.

[9] Officials from Charlestown, Indiana designated February 5, 2020, as Michael Cleveland Day in recognition of his Grammy award for his Tall Fiddler album.

[11] In 2007, Cleveland and his band Flamekeeper entertained as part of the Bluegrass Sundays Winter Concert Series in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

[12] The group performed at the Sally Creek Music Festival in Thames Centre, Ontario, in July, 2010.