The most unique concert hall in the Southeast—if not the world—rests some 300 feet below the Cumberland Plateau and just outside McMinnville, Tenn. Carved by millions of years of underground river flow, the Volcano Room, one of the caves that make up the labyrinth of Cumberland Caverns, has become home to the monthly concert series known as Bluegrass Underground.

Read the rest of this entry »

Har, har, har, har, har! No, really though, that was pretty hilarious. See, the Bermans and their musical cohorts, all of whom put together make The Silver Jews, will be playing a show for a very famous radio station from right here in Nashville called WSM (home to the Grand Old Opry) - but wait, there’s a catch. The show will be played in a place called Cumberland Caverns, a place lots of us in the Tennessee area visited on field trips as children, and a place which happens to be a freaking cave.

Yes, the Jews will be playing Aloyisius, Bluegrass Drummer, among a bunch of bats and stuff. This is trippy, I know.   The date is January 31st (bring a jacket, January+cave=cold) and the time is at 3pm. It’s a Saturday so you’ve no right to complain about the 3pm start time, well actually you have no right to complain about anything being inconvenient about a Silver Jews show in a natural wonder.

Original Post:   It’s Hard to Find a Friend: The Silver Jews Are So Underground! .

Friends, if you haven’t already, you should check out some of Danny Barnes’ music at www.dannybarnes.com. He’s a really quirky, and, I think, brilliant, writer. His voice, not just as a singer, but also as a writer and player, is unique and highly valuable.

Yesterday we drove together to the Cumberland Caverns, near McMinnville TN, where we played a new concert series called "Bluegrass Underground." The show was recorded for rebroadcast on nearby radio outlets and on WSM in Nashville. I understand the WSM broadcast is set for midnight on Dec 26th, and you can listen online then as well from WSM’s website. You can find out more at www.bluegrassunderground.com. It was a one-off bluegrass set with Danny Barnes, Bryan Sutton, and Dennis Crouch.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some samples from the Tim O’Brien broadcast that will air on WSM, Sirius and XM on Friday and Saturday Dec. 26 and 27th.  Audio recording and mixing by Grammy winning engineer Phil Harris.

Tim O’Brien and Friends - Making Plans (Tim O’Brien Original)

Tim O’Brien and Friends - Christmas Time’s a Comin’

Tim O’Brien’s recent holiday show at perhaps Tennessee’s most unique concert venue, Bluegrass Underground, will be aired Friday and Saturday (Dec. 26 and 27) on WSM 650 AM, XM/Sirius and various other local affiliates.

“I thought the band Tim brought was one of the best he has ever played with, with Danny Barnes, Dennis Crouch and Bryan Sutton,” said Nashville-based sound engineer Phil Harris, who produced, recorded, and mixed O’Brien’s concert for broadcast.

Read Full Article at BluegrassJournal.com

By now perhaps you’ve heard about Silver Jews’ Jan. 31 Bluegrass Underground show at Cumberland Caverns . According to the BU website, Arnett Hollow will be opening. Mr. David Berman himself anticipates great things. Straight from the horse’s mouth [sic]:

well monotonix will be in fur one pieces playing drums with dinosaur bones and zildjan clamshells. I think i want William Tyler to depcit Chakha from Land of the Lost; tony crow will be deposited inside a Lascaux-Wildlife printed tuxedo from Petsmart Couture…but seriously there will be some major items. one thing i can tell you is that the silver jews credo "what we do is symbolic" is definitely in play here. I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t the last silver jews show. We have a couple of shows in south america in the summer but that’s it.

So there you have it. Whether or not Willy T. dons a Cha-Ka body suit, I’m thinking this could be the show of the year. At the very least, it will be the finest spelunking-rock-and-roll hybrid event of the winter season.

Original Article:
http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/2008/12/bermans_thoughts_on_silver_jew.php

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Folks,

If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen to this show, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT! The sound is absolutely spectacular; the levels are perfect - no distortion whatsoever, so you can crank it as loud as you want; the clarity and separation are second to none. The vocals are as good as any I’ve heard - Jeremy really has it going. The instrumental exchanges/transitions are awesome, especially during Count Me In - Jesse lays down one lick that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck, and Gettin’ Down The Road - Jesse and Andy H. trading licks during a superb jam - WOW. "Rivers" has this Pure Prairie League feel to it - I hope this makes the next album - what a sweet tune. Then there’s travis’ "Holy Cowan" vocals (holds a note for over 10 seconds) and Panda wailing away during Sunny Side Of The Mountain.

Phil…you’re a genius! This is a perfect show for a live double-cd, after you get Mexicali Live out.  How do I pre-order?

Set 1
No More To Leave You Behind
One More Bridge
Golden Ticket
I Wonder
Bound For Tennessee
Rivers
Won’t Be Coming Back
You Can’t Handle The Truth
Lonesome River
Uncle Pen
Black Rock

Set 2
Fork In The Road
Well, Well
When Silence Is The Only Sound
Count Me In
Poor Boy’s Delight
Three Days In July
Gettin’ Down The Road
Travelin’ Teardrop Blues >
Glass Elevator
Sunny Side Of The Mountain

via "dusterhead" at Stringduster Nation • Bluegrass Underground - The Cavern, not the band! .

Didn’t get one at the show?  We now have the Tim O’Brien and Friends Bluegrass Underground  Concert Posters available… $10.

Purchase the poster from The Infamous Stringdusters show.  $10

Show sponsor Fall Creek Falls is offering a special Bluegrass Underground Package to Bluegrass Underground patrons on either the Friday night before each show, the Saturday each show, or both!

Each package includes one room at The Inn at Fall Creek Falls double occupancy with (2) breakfast buffets the following morning.  Also included are (2) tickets to the show and a limited edition show poster.  The special rate is $99 plus tax and tips  Call 800-250-8610 to reserve your room and ask for the Bluegrass Underground Package!”

Each Package includes the following:

• (1) double occupancy room at the Inn at Fall Creek Falls
• (2) buffet tickets good for Fall Creek Falls all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet
• (2) tickets to the show
• (1) limited edition show poster
• $99 Special Rate
  * tax and tip not included

Click below for Images of Fall Creek Falls State Park…
Read the rest of this entry »

I did the coolest thing today. I listened to a band. In a cave.

To get there, you leave McMinnville, Tennessee, and wind down a country road littered with the splashiest shades of orange and yellow leaves. Not too long after losing cell reception, you reach Cumberland Caverns, home of the Bluegrass Underground.

I’d never heard of such a thing until my friend Leeann found out about it on NPR and asked me last night if I wanted to go. The music was GREAT–we had the privilege of hearing The Infamous Stringdusters, a bluegrass band that apparently plays here in Nashville on a regular basis. They’re beyond talented (and adorable–I decided that if I get married it’s going to have to be to a bluegrass musician). They played bluegrass staples like "Uncle Pen" and "Fox on the Run" (which made me think of my Daddy), as well as originals.

For $15, it was quite the happymaking Saturday afternoon. I highly recommend it.

via For Lack of a Better Word: Bluegrass Underground .

Read the rest of this entry »

Doing their part to keep underground music alive, Pavement offshoot the Silver Jews are due to play a super-subterranean show on January 31 at McMinnville, Tennessee’s Cumberland Caverns.

The lo-fi country-rock outfit will tape an afternoon performance for a midnight radio broadcast of “Bluegrass Underground” on Nashville’s WSM radio [via Pitchfork.com]. The show is open to the public, so dig out that spelunking gear and come on down, literally.

Original Article:
http://www.spin.com/articles/silver-jews-play-underground-cave

Boy, one day you’re averse to the very idea of touring, and the next, you’re 333 feet below the surface of the Earth, playing your country-rock for the radio. Strange as it might seem, come January 31, Silver Jews will head to McMinnville, Tennessee’s Cumberland Caverns to play an afternoon “Blueglass Underground” show due for a midnight broadcast on Nashville’s famed WSM radio. The gig is open to the public, and the Jews go on at 3 p.m. local time, with an as-yet-undetermined support act down for the 2 p.m. slot. And I reckon if you wait around long enough, there will be bats!

Silver Jews recently wrapped up their fall tour, so the spelunker’s dream show stands as their next public appearance. Bide the time until then with Silver Jew, the recent documentary on the band that Drag City released last month.

Original Article:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/146931-silver-jews-to-play-gig-in-an-underground-cave

The Grascals Bluegrass Underground concert posters now available. $10

Bluegrass Underground, the new live performance radio show we posted about last month, debuts tonight (8/29) on WSM. The show features a live performance by The Steeldrivers, recorded August 16 more than 300 feet underground at Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, TN.

The show’s premise is based around the unique environment where it is recorded, this underground cavern completely removed from any sound generated at the earth’s surface. Each month, a new episode will be taped before a live audience, using as few microphones as possible to capture the natural acoustic sound, and aired on the last Friday night of the month.

Producer Todd Mayo told us that this first concert taping was a sellout, and that The Steeldrivers put on a whale of a show.

Full Article:
http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/steeldrivers-on-bluegrass-underground/

Award-winning Warren County journalist and filmaker Todd Jarrell came out to Bluegrass Underground and produced this piece for NPR…

Cumberland Caverns lie just about an hour’s drive southeast from Nashville, and they’re like many caves in the region: deep and dark. But unlike the others, one room of this expansive cave system seems to be an acoustical oddity that has audiences flocking to hear its very special sound. WPLN’s Todd Jarrell traveled out to Warren County to listen.

Audio for this feature is available here.

Transcript below…

JARRELL: Hunched over a dimly lit audio mixing board, recording engineer Phil Harris concentrates on dialing in the sound before the first show of a new concert series titled, Bluegrass Underground. Harris, a Grammy Award-winning producer, says this venue is very different from any others he has worked…

HARRIS: “I mean the room is fantastic. The sound in here is phenomenal. It has a really nice warm sound unlike a lot of other manmade things that you encounter.”

Read the rest of this entry »