Tag: bluegrass underground

Exclusive: Bluegrass Underground Reveals Season X Lineup

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The Bluegrass Situation is pleased to announce the artists for Bluegrass Underground’s milestone Season X on PBS. From March 27 through March 29, the Bluegrass Underground TV taping from The Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee will treat music fans to performances by the finest in roots music and Americana.

This special 10th anniversary taping features cutting-edge singer-songwriters Cam, Yola, Courtney Marie Andrews, and Sam Lewis, and harmonious duos Mandolin Orange and three-time Grammy-nominated Milk Carton Kids, as well as legends like Asleep at the Wheel and Blind Boys of Alabama, and rising stars like bluegrass phenom Molly Tuttle, groove-driven jam band Goose, and psychedelic soul group Black Pumas, plus a surprise act to be announced in the coming weeks.

Jam-packed into one epic weekend of underground concerts, the performances will be captured for the 10th anniversary of the multiple Emmy Award-winning Bluegrass Underground series on PBS. To be in attendance at the 3-day live taping event is a music lover’s ultimate experience. The milestone Season X will premiere in the fall of 2020 on PBS stations nationwide.

“It’s amazing that Bluegrass Underground is the second-longest music series on American Public Television,” says Todd Mayo, Bluegrass Underground creator and co-producer. “And we look forward to the next 10 years of partnering with PBS in presenting the quality and diversity of roots music from one of the most iconic music destinations in the world, The Caverns in Grundy County, Tennessee.”

Three-Day & Single-Day Tickets go on sale on Friday, November 22 at 11 am CT at TheCaverns.com

Here’s the lineup for Bluegrass Underground Season X PBS TV Taping in The Caverns:

March 27:

● Molly Tuttle: An artist on the leading edge of bluegrass music, steeped in tradition while driving the genre forward in today’s musical landscape.

● Goose: This New England band’s mix of rock, funk, tropical grooves and extended jams will turn The Caverns into a subterranean dance party.

● Cam: From a GRAMMY nomination to headlining the Ryman Auditorium, this multi-platinum country singer-songwriter is a force to be reckoned with.

● Asleep at the Wheel: Ray Benson has now been leading a Western Swing band longer than Bob Wills, and he brings his iconic group to The Caverns for their 50th Anniversary Tour. Historic.

March 28:

● Sam Lewis: Best-known for touring and collaborating with Chris Stapleton (who helped inaugurate Bluegrass Underground in 2008), this singer-songwriter is one of the defining talents of modern Americana.

● Courtney Marie Andrews: Powerful vocals, passionate songs from one of today’s finest singer-songwriters.

● The Milk Carton Kids: One of Americana’s best live acts, the duo of singer/guitarists Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan combine close harmonies, wonderful original songs and humor.

● TBA: Bluegrass Underground will be announcing the day’s fourth artist in coming weeks. Who doesn’t love a surprise?

March 29:

● Blind Boys of Alabama: A rousing Sunday in The Caverns with the five-time GRAMMY Award-winning gospel group that helped create the genre.

● Black Pumas: Austin, Texas is known for its dynamic live music scene. Black Pumas are the city’s leading soul/funk band. Enough said.

● Yola: Demolishing genre with her evocative voice and debut record Walk Through Fire, Yola establishes herself as the Queen of Country Soul from the very first note.

● Mandolin Orange: Intimate and emotional, the music of multi-instrumental duo Emily Frantz and songwriter Andrew Marlin draws you into their world with a sound that floats like a butterfly, but speaks to the heart.

While the national festival season remains in hibernation, Bluegrass Underground and The Caverns will welcome spring to the rolling hills of Tennessee with its unique, world-renowned combination of top artists, award-winning sound and lighting production, and breathtaking natural beauty, creating an underground festival experience like none other. Bluegrass Underground events feature a clean and comfortable, fan-friendly environment, complete with high-quality concessions and beverage offerings, including craft beers.

Tickets & travel packages and Stay-and-Cave hotel packages make for a perfect and easy getaway weekend. Packages include the best seats to all tapings, lodging accommodations for two, transportation to and from the venue, food, and commemorative merchandise. There is no better way to experience the Bluegrass Underground tapings than a Stay-and-Cave package. Packages and tickets will go on sale on Friday, November 22nd at 11am central at TheCaverns.com

Bluegrass Underground is underwritten on PBS by Tennessee Tourism and by Grundy County, Tennessee. The 12-episode series is presented to PBS nationally in partnership with WCTE in Cookeville, Tennessee, which serves the Upper Cumberland and Middle Tennessee.

WATCH: Jon Stickley Trio, “Animate Object”

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Artist: Jon Stickley Trio
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Animate Object”
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “‘Animate Object’ is the trio’s current theme song. At heart, it’s a little flatpicking tune to have fun with, but we’ve rhythmically turned it on its head like we like to do. This video was shot in three different locations with deep significance to us. The World Famous Station Inn represents our love and respect for our bluegrass roots. Spirit of the Suwannee is where our band was born, and where we thankfully return every year to connect with that spirit and experience rebirth under the live oaks. And finally, the [Caverns and] Bluegrass Underground symbolize the deep, introspective dive we’ve taken into ourselves in search of the meaning of our music and where it is coming from. This track is the next step in a never-ending evolutionary journey that is the Jon Stickley Trio.” — Jon Stickley

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

WATCH: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on ‘Bluegrass Underground’

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PBS has launched their ninth season of Bluegrass Underground, a television series of roots music concerts from the cavernous heart of middle Tennessee. Since the show’s launch, dozens of famous acts in bluegrass, blues, Americana, and country music have graced the stage. Now filmed at The Caverns, an awe-inspiring cave venue in Pelham, Tennessee, the upcoming season will feature acts like Keb’ Mo’, Steve Earle, the Brothers Osborne, Josh Ritter, the Devil Makes Three, and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, whose performance was the season opener. Watch as this timeless country band commands the cave on Bluegrass Underground.

Photo credit: Glen Rose

Bluegrass Underground: Brandi Carlile Rocks the Rock

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For nearly a decade, Bluegrass Underground has invited artists and fans to experience the joy of music together … underground. The Caverns, located at the foot of Monteagle Mountain in Pelham, Tennessee, plays host to both the Emmy Award-winning PBS program and other shows from March to December.

Todd Mayo, owner of the Caverns and creator of Bluegrass Underground, walked into his first cave 10 years ago this month and thought it would be an ideal setting for live music. Though he wasn’t in the music business at all, six weeks later, Bluegrass Underground was born. Mayo booked the Steel Drivers, then fronted by Chris Stapleton, and secured an airing on WSM right before the Grand Ole Opry. And thus was born Bluegrass Underground.

When a guy came to interview Mayo about his vision of Bluegrass Underground eventually being a PBS show, the fellow — Todd Jarrell — just happened to work in that world. The two formed a production company and the rest is history, though still in the making. For a number of years, the shows took place in a different cave — one 333 feet underground in McMinnville, Tennessee. But having to load all the production gear in and out for every show was less than ideal.

Having a cave of their own with permanent light and sound installations, designed by award-winning cinematographer Allen Branton and Sound Image, respectively, allows much greater flexibility, in terms of the Caverns’ show season. But the new cave didn’t come plug-and-play.

“The first time I ever walked in here, standing on the stage, I could touch the ceiling,” Mayo explains. “That’s how much dirt came out of here. For six months, all we did was move dirt. It was like Michaelangelo with the statue of David. He said, ‘David was always in there. I just had to get the damn marble out of the way.’ Well, this cave was always here. I just had to get the dirt out of the way. When we started excavating, I didn’t know what was there. We just got all of the dirt out that had been washed in here over thousands and thousands of years and, all of a sudden, we were left with this perfect space for music.”



Bluegrass Underground sort of marries two of the greatest things about Tennessee: the musical culture and the natural beauty,” Mayo offers.


“Playing in the Caverns is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. It’s like if somebody took Red Rocks, shrunk it down, and put it underground. It’s Red Rocks in a hole,” Tim Hanseroth [right] says. “It’s kind of humid, so everything’s a little silky and the guitars are cold because of the temperature. There’s steam coming out of your breath … it’s awesome! I was worried about things staying in tune before soundcheck, but nothing went out … surprisingly.”

The assistant director Cindy Brewer [left] and director Jim Yockey [right] both study the artist’s set list for a month, noting where the dynamic and instrument shifts take place within each song. During the live show, the AD cues the director and camera operators as to what is coming. The director and assistant positions are always split between male and female in order to avoid confusion over their voices.



“I was expecting a mystical experience,” Carlile notes. “What I wasn’t expecting was how beautiful the surrounding area was. It was how you’d expect it to be — in a cave with lots of natural reverb. It was really incredible, after 15 years of trying to re-create that sound in the studio and live digitally or with plates and chambers, to hear it occur naturally in the caverns.”



Mayo sums up the team’s mission statement: “Everything that we do is about the power of music to bring people together. You find a beautiful space that puts people in a different frame of mind and, when you’re down here, there’s no fourth wall. The artist will walk in here through the crowd and start playing. And it’s that sense of community, that communal aspect of music, that everybody feels when they go see music anywhere, it’s sort of amplified when you’re in a place like this.”

Photo credit: Kelly Amber Garcia

Bluegrass Underground Takes the Genre to New Depths

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If you’re a fan of bluegrass, PBS, or both, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the Emmy-winning show Bluegrass Underground. The series, which features the biggest voices in roots music performing in an actual cave, has been on the air since 2011, with shows first taking place 333 feet below the earth in McMinville, Tennessee’s Cumberland Caverns in 2008. Since the show’s inception, it’s featured a who’s-who of bluegrass and Americana’s finest artists, including Old Crow Medicine Show, Del McCoury, and Lucinda Williams. 

New episodes for the 2017 season taped over the weekend with three days of shows that featured Conor Oberst, Parker Millsap, Rhonda Vincent, and Marty Stuart, among others. This new season — the series’ seventh on television — is its biggest yet, a lineup that had Larry Nager, who serves as the show’s resident journalist and blogger, as excited as ever to get down to the cave. 

Prior to getting involved with Bluegrass Underground, Nager worked as a journalist, musician, and bluegrass historian. His first brush with the series came in 2008, when he attended one of the very first shows — featuring the likes of Tim O’Brien, Bryan Sutton, and Stuart Duncan — at the behest of Bluegrass Underground founder Todd Mayo. He cites that lineup as inspiring him to join the show’s team, but also is quick to explain that the venue itself played a large role in getting him on board.

And it is quite a sight. After trekking down a dimly lit, winding path flanked by rock formations and crystalline pooled water, visitors descend upon a grand “room” made of rock, at once cozy and breathtaking, lit by a large chandelier that can only be described as prehistoric chic. 

“There are artists who won’t go because they don’t like the idea of being in a cave,” he says. “That, in itself, is interesting. But there’s kind of a magic that happens underground. It takes everybody out of their usual zone. For bluegrass bands or any working band, it’s gig after gig after gig and they all kind of run together, but when they come down there they say, ‘This is one we’re gonna remember.’”

Though Nager has seen countless shows over the years, there are a handful of moments from his time in the cave that rank among his favorite musical memories. One of the most treasured of those memories is his experience seeing the late Dr. Ralph Stanley perform in 2011.

“Ralph did two shows down in the cave,” he says. “To get him in the cave is just a cool thing. He did ‘O Death’ with a pin-spot on his face in the dark cave. That was one of those moments … It was transcendent. That’s definitely one of the moments I’ll remember.”

Nager noted that moments like those are made available to viewers beyond the lucky few hundred in the venue by PBS, an entity threatened by budget proposals by the Trump administration. Without the support of PBS, there likely won’t be a home on television for Bluegrass Underground or similar roots-centric shows like Music City Roots. 

“There really is a message there, in that PBS, for people who love roots music and love bluegrass … you’re not going to see it anywhere else, not on broadcast television. There’s also an underserved rural population that, the influence of PBS there, is not often stated, but for a lot of places that’s the alternative TV they get. Otherwise, it’s Dancing with the Stars.

“If you’re open to it, the beauty of it, the strangeness of it, the uniqueness of the experience is inspiring. It’s just old-fashioned magic.”

COMING SOON: The Bluegrass Situation Radio Hour

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On September 2, WMOT-FM, Middle Tennessee State University’s public radio station, is changing its menu to one of Americana with the Music City Roots team stirring the pot. WMOT: Roots Radio will be Middle Tennessee's only channel programming the musical gumbo of bluegrass, folk, gospel, soul, country, and blues music that is Americana … andThe Bluegrass Situation Radio Hour will be one of numerous specialty spices, along with Music City Roots and Bluegrass Underground.

The 100,000-watt station, which first aired in April of 1969 and currently plays jazz on 89.5 FM, boasts the clearest and strongest radio signal in greater Nashville reaching from Bowling Green, Kentucky, in the north to the Alabama border in the south.

Rodney Crowell, for one, is very excited about the announcement: “Imagine, in our neck of the woods, a radio station with real people playing music they actually care about, even love. WMOT is bringing Middle Tennessee real music when we need it most. Miracles happen.”

The new WMOT will showcase and celebrate the past, present and future of American roots music with a focus on Nashville’s unparalleled track record of artistry and songwriting, while also highlighting regional and stylistic “roots and branches” from around the country and across the world.

Curated by the programming team of Music City Roots, the Roots Radio playlist will be deep and wide. Listeners can expect live radio hosts from 6 am to 7 pm on weekdays, including veterans of roots music broadcasting. Anchoring the team and directing musical programming will be industry icon Jessie Scott, the first roots music director on satellite radio and a founding board member of the Americana Music Association. Music City Roots’ founder, John Walker, will host morning drive. Grand Ole Opry veteran Keith Bilbrey will handle midday, tapping his expertise in country music. Long-time radio man Whit “Witness” Hubner will work early afternoons.

Beginning September 11, Chris Jacobs will host The Bluegrass Situation Radio Hour on Sunday evenings at 8 pm CT, bringing the music from the BGS website to life. From Sitch Sessions to Squared Roots, Artist of the Month to Song of the Week, The BGS Radio Hour will offer a whole new way for fans to engage with the music they love.

Those of us who grew up making mixtapes and watching WKRP in Cincinnati are pretty excited!