Jim Van Cleve
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Jim Van Cleve, born October 12, 1978 is an American fiddle player. He plays in the popular Bluegrass band Mountain Heart.
Van Cleve won several fiddle contests as a youth, including the Annual Galax, Virginia competition when he was 16. While still in high school, Van Cleve became a member of Lou Reid and Carolina, a prominent band in the national bluegrass scene at the time.
In 1997, Van Cleve got the call from bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson to join his group Quicksilver. Van Cleve quit college to become the band's new fiddle player.
In 1998, banjo player Barry Abernathy, singer/guitarist Steve Gulley, and Grammy-winning mandolinist (formerly of Alison Krauss and Union Station) Adam Steffey began plans to form a band. Van Cleve came on board and the band Mountain Heart was formed. Van Cleve has played a major role in the success and popularity of the band, as well as a driving force in creating more complex musical arrangements.
On May 9, 2006, Van Cleve released his first solo recording, No Apologies. The album is a mix of traditional bluegrass and more experimental new acoustic and newgrass music.
