Born blind in Henryville, Indiana, in 1980 and left with 80 percent hearing loss in one ear after a childhood infection, Michael Cleveland became one of the most decorated fiddle players in bluegrass. This episode follows how the Suzuki method at age four gave him a sonic map of the violin, and how the genre's apprenticeship model kept him out of the prodigy trap.

We cover his teenage appearances at the Grand Ole Opry, A Prairie Home Companion and before Congress, his years with Dale Ann Bradley and Rhonda Vincent, the five-string fiddle behind Sawing on the C String, Flamekeeper and Rounder Records, ten IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year awards, the 2020 Grammy for Tall Fiddler, the 2022 NEA National Heritage Fellowship, and the 2024 Bluegrass Star Award.

• How the Suzuki method bypasses sheet music
• Navigating a single-microph ...