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.

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MCMINNVILLE — Bluegrass fans most likely listen to their favorite artists and albums on the radio or in concert, but they have probably never experienced anything quite like “Bluegrass Underground.” On Saturday, Aug. 16, bluegrass fans need to prepare themselves for a journey that will take them to the center of the earth where they will discover a world of bluegrass magic.

Cumberland Caverns of McMinnville is hosting the syndicated radio show “Bluegrass Underground,” airing on 650 WSM. The show will be recorded before a live audience 333 feet below the earth’s surface in The Volcano Room, a naturally-occurring amphitheater where time and water have worked together to make one of the most purely acoustical spaces on earth.

Todd Mayo, the show’s producer, stumbled upon the idea for “Bluegrass Underground” when he and his family took a Memorial Day tour of the caves.

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