Tennessee’s South Cumberland’s subterranean music venue attracting big name artists to ‘The Greatest Show Under Earth’.
“Think of it as Tennessee’s version of Colorado’s stunning Red Rocks Amphitheatre, but smaller – and deep underground. The Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee, about an hour and change drive from Nashville, is poised to become a must-visit concert venue, thanks to its naturally unique setting and an eclectic calendar that is persuading fans of country, bluegrass and rock to make the descent into a dark, damp hole in the ground.
It’s a beautiful, sunny spring day in bucolic Pelham, with birds chirping and the valley floor full of blooming wildflowers. But inside, the misty, haunting overtones of Tim O’Brien’s bluegrass makes the Caverns feel like a spooky, centuries-old refuge from the dangers of a dark wilderness night. That’s especially appropriate as the West Virginia native sings “Where the River Meets the Road,” a dirge about his Irish-immigrant forebears migrating over the Cumberland road to the booming mill town of Wheeling.”