Slaid Cleaves (born Richard Slaid Cleaves on June 9, 1964) is an American singer. He was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in South Berwick, Maine and Round Pond, Maine. Slaid Cleaves’ music is marked by both the quirky blend of isolated eccentricity and steely resilience of his Yankee upbringing and the weathered soul of Texas, the state he has called home for over a decade now. First registering on the national folk scene by winning the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk competition in 1992, Cleaves released his national debut No Angel Knows (Philo/Rounder) in 1997, following a string of self-released albums and many nights logged in folk clubs as both a performer and a soundman.