Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will be featured on this morning’s (9/24) edition of Katy Daley’s show on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country.

The guys stopped by the WAMU studios in Washington DC on their way to perform at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival this past Thursday. Katy says they recorded an hour’s worth of live music and conversation, which will be broadcast this morning a 9:00 a.m.

“We talked about IBMA nominations and Jesse Baker’s solo project Yessir! on Patuxent. Everybody had a chance to shine so there were songs from Marshall Wilborn and Tom Adams, too.  Of course, Michael and Jesse Brock stunned the studio audience with their (instrumental performance of the year) nominated Jerusalem Ridge.”

Listen in at 9:00 to hear their visit on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country. It can be heard worldwide on www.bluegrasscountry.org and in the Washington area on HD Radio WAMU-88.5 Channel Two, and on 105FiveFM.

Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper have announced that Tom Adams will be their newest member, playing guitar and singing lead vocals.

Tom and Michael have a long musical association going back to Adams’ time as a crackerjack, award-winning banjo player. The two of them worked together with Rhonda Vincent & The Rage in 2000, and with Dale Ann Bradley in 2002. They also released a live duet album of banjo/fiddle duets (Live at the Ragged Edge) in 2004.

That project was recorded in 2002, just before Tom began to experience the frustrating symptoms of what would later be diagnosed as focal dystonia, a neurological disorder that left him unable to reliably perform on the banjo to his high standards of excellence. Tom had started his musical life as a guitarist, and starting in 2008, returned to working in bluegrass, but now on guitar where the dystonia had no effect on his right hand movement. He had been playing of late with Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie.

Adams has a great respect for Cleveland and is delighted to be joining Flamekeeper…

“Mike is absolutely one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met — what an incredible musician! I thoroughly enjoyed playing with Mike in the past, and I’m very excited about working with him again. He’s got a terrific band and I am glad to become a part of it.”

This move also reunites Tom with Marshall Wilborn, with whom he worked in The Johnson Mountain Boys and the Lynn Morris Band. The current Flamekeeper lineup features Cleveland on fiddle, Adams on guitar, Wilborn on bass, Jesse Brock on mandolin and Jessie Baker on banjo.

Tom will join the band starting with their August 7 show at Bluegrass In The Park in Henderson, KY.  You can find their complete tour schedule online.

UPDATE 7/24: When we first published this story, we mentioned that Tom would be playing guitar with Flamekeeper, but didn’t note that he will also be the new lead singer as well.

Darrell Webb has left Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper and announced that he is forming his own group. His last show with Michael was on June 21, and Darrell has most of his new band already in place.

Matt Leadbetter will be on resonator guitar, Owen Piatt on banjo and Jeremy Aarwood on bass. Darrell tells us that he will either play mandolin or guitar himself, depending on who he chooses to complete the group.

He tells us that after stints with Lonesome River Band, JD Crowe & The New South, Wildfire, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Flamekeeper, the time is right for him to lead his own band.

“I’m going to do my own thing from here on out. I’ve waited long enough, and I’m really going to work hard and do my best to try make it happen on my own.

You don’t ever know until you try.”

Flamekeeper has not yet chosen a replacement for Darrell, and has Jeff White playing guitar on an interim basis until a new hire comes on board. Webb leaves with nothing but respect for Michael and all the guys in Flamekeeper.

“I wish the band the best of luck but right now I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish. My fans can look forward to seeing The Darrell Webb Band out and about soon. I am excited about the new things that are in store for me right now.”

Darrell’s web site is being updated now, and new information should be available there in a few weeks. In the meantime, he is eager to communicate with anyone about his new endeavor, and can be reached by email at mandocaster2005@hotmail.com.

His energies right now are dedicated to his first effort at festival promotion with Coalfest 2009 (July 17-19) in Pilgrims Knob, VA, where he serves as co-director.

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will visit the Country Music Hall of Fame on Friday morning (6/5) for a live interview with Bill Cody of WSM. The guys will also perform a couple of tunes, starting at 9:00 a.m.

The event is free and open to the public if you are in Nashville, and the rest of us can listen live online.

In addition to Michael on fiddle, Flamekeeper consists of Jesse Brock on mandolin, Darrell Webb on guitar, Marshall Wilborn on bass and  Jessie Baker on banjo.