Tom Adams Joins Michael Cleveland and Flamekeerer

Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper Announce Newest Member

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper are proud to announce the addition of IBMA multi-award winner Tom Adams to the band. Adams will be taking on lead vocal and guitar duties with IBMA's 2-time Instrumental Group Of The Year. First gaining national recognition more than twenty years ago with the legendary Jimmy Martin, banjo master Tom Adams' debut recording, Right Hand Man, was hailed as the "heir apparent" to Earl Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Banjo. While banjo player extraordinaire has been his main role for most of his music career, Adams is equally proficient on guitar and has been performing for the past year as guitarist and lead singer with Bill Emerson and Sweet Dixie.Adams is a winner of many IBMA accolades including Album of the Year (1990-At The Old Schoolhouse by The Johnson Mountain Boys), Banjo Performer of the Year (1992, 1993, 2002), Entertainer of the Year (2001 with Rhonda Vincent & The Rage), Best Liner Notes (2006 for Let 'Er Go Boys by Michael Cleveland) and Recorded Event of the Year (2007 for Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular by Tony Trischka). Perhaps it was in 2004 when Tom Adams and Michael Cleveland won IBMA's Instrumental Album of the Year for Live At The Ragged Edge that the two talented musicians first thought of working together on a more permanent basis. After stints as bandmates with Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Dale Ann Bradley, the two are now joining forces again to present the newest, and most assuredly, the most talked about version of Flamekeeper to date. "Mike's playing just knocks me out and when you're playing with him and you're a part of that groove, it's just one of the best things in the world", states Adams. "I am so excited to be working with him and his great band." The admiration and mutual respect between the two men is quite evident. "Tom Adams is one of the most incredible musicians I've ever had the opportunity to play with", remarks Cleveland. "He is the king of taste and timing in my opinion and it is going to be so awesome to work with him again after all these years."Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, fronted by IBMA's 6-time Fiddle Player Of The Year, also consists of Jesse Brock on mandolin, Marshall Wilborn on bass and Jessie Baker on banjo. Tom Adams will begin his tenure as guitarist and lead singer with the band on August 7th at Bluegrass In The Park in Henderson, Kentucky.Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper EPKTom Adams Photo