When it comes to the best of contemporary bluegrass fiddling, Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland are two names that likely come to mind. With numerous awards and accolades each, these two masters would often play on each other’s studio recordings, or be impromptu guests on live shows. With a longtime friendship between Jason and Michael, it should be no surprise that they would eventually collaborate on a project. The resulting effort, Carter and Cleveland on Fiddle Man Records, pairs their otherworldly instrumentalism alongside exceptional material.
The opening track, Give It Away by Tim O’Brien and Matt Combs, has a wonderful message of not only receiving love for yourself, but giving it to others as well. Along with Jason on fiddle and lead vocals and Michael on fiddle, the duo is joined by Sam Bush on mandolin and harmony vocals, as well as Bryan Sutton on guitar, Cory Walker on banjo, and Alan Bartram on bass, who serve as part of the core backing band for this project.
Kern County Breakdown by Buck Owens and Don Rich, is the first of several tracks that shows the dynamic fiddling of both Carter and Cleveland. This one also features astonishing playing from Harry Clark, who contributes a bulk of the mandolin work on this album.
Runnin’ Late was written by the great Jimmy Campbell, who fiddled for Bill Monroe and Jim & Jesse among others. This track fittingly features Campbell’s son, Casey on mandolin.
With A Vamp In The Middle comes from John Hartford’s iconic Aereoplane. Here it’s performed as a duet with Carter on lead vocals and Darrell Scott on harmony.
Dreams and Stoney Lonesome could both be viewed as Jason Carter’s swan song with the Del McCoury Band, whom he recently left after thirty three years of touring and recording. The former is a McCoury classic that features stout harmony singing from Del, Ronnie, and Michael. The latter is drawn from the Bill Monroe catalogue. It proves just how steeped both Carter and Cleveland are in traditional bluegrass.
Outrun the Rain by Terry Herd and Jimmy Yeary is one of the ultimate highlights of this album. With unreal high vocal harmonies from Vince Gill and Jaelee Roberts, and improvisational solos all throughout, this is one of those songs you’ll find yourself returning to constantly!
Another high point of this recording is the Kenny Baker classic, Bluegrass In The Backwoods. It’s clear from the first few bars just how ingrained Baker’s influence is in both Jason and Michael. This track once again features Cory Walker on banjo, Alan Bartram on bass, Casey Campbell on mandolin, as well as Cody Kilby on guitar.
Carter & Cleveland is a wonderful effort. With robust instrumentalism, vocals, and material all throughout, this is one of those recordings where every track is a winner. According to the press release that announced this collaboration, Jason and Michael had discussed recording a project together for fifteen years before they actually went forward. While it took awhile for the concept to come to fruition, it was well worth the wait!
