Published June 16, 2026 03:09 pm
The journey to The Caverns is a bumpy ride, via a narrow two-lane rural road in the small town of Pelham, Tennessee (pop. 704). As I pass acres of farmland and the occasional house, it seems more and more incongruous that my destination is a world-famous concert hall. But this site – located underground inside a naturally formed cave – is a geological wonder that can only exist here. Named 2025’s theater of the year By the Academy of Country Music The country setting is part of the overall experience of seeing a performance caves.
After parking in a gravel spot, my journey continues on a well-trodden path that runs along a field with sweeping views of the Cumberland Plateau, a wooded highland that looks golden in the evening. I would love to lie down on a blanket in the grass and watch the sunset, but there’s also a show to watch, so I move on. The sidewalk turns into concrete and leads to a wooded area where there’s an amphitheater, crowds gathering around food trucks and a few outdoor bars, and twinkling string lights overhead. I follow a group of people until I finally find Big Mouth Cave, also known as The Caverns. As I walk inside, I look up and see trees growing directly over the wide, arched limestone entrance, reminding me that, yes, I’m going underground.
I’ve been on a few cave tours, and I came away thinking that stalactites are pretty cool, but I’m not a fan of tight spaces. So I was surprised (and relieved) to find that the main concert hall is wide enough to hold 1,200 people standing or 850 seated, with a gently sloping concrete floor leading up to the stage. It has everything you’d find in a traditional venue: bathrooms, a trading area, multiple bars, and even local brewer Common John Brewing Company’s own beer, Caverns Limestone Lager.
I’ve come here in mid-May to see country rock band 49 Winchester, and when they finally take the stage, the sound is almost overwhelming as it bounces off the limestone walls. Colorful lights shine and illuminate the peaks and crevices of the cave. I feel engulfed by the display—and a little dizzy, too. I’m underground! Watching a concert!
“Often, after an artist’s first song, they’ll yell into the audience something like, ‘I can’t believe we’re playing inside a cave!’ It’s a reminder that the artist, just like the audience, is having a very unique underground experience,” explains Jeff Meltsen, the venue’s director of marketing. Outside. “Being underground together creates a connection between the musicians and the audience that contributes to the energy of the night.”
Meltsen says the lighting and sound systems have been adapted to match the natural shape and acoustics of the space. “The Caverns uses a modern sound and lighting package that you will find in many professional music venues, but what sets it apart is how it is used in the cave environment,” he explains. “The sound system is specifically dialed in for the unique echo of the cave, while the lighting design illuminates the stage and allows our lighting director to showcase the natural formations throughout the space.”
One thing that’s missing: backstage space. When it’s show time, the performers – including The Flaming Lips, Brandi Carlile, “Weird Al” Yankovic and Los Lobos – walk down an aisle through the excited crowd, in what has become a signature moment. “If you’re in the right place at the right time, your favorite artist will walk right behind you on the way to the stage. To me, that shared path in the cave puts everyone on the same level,” says Meltsen.
Todd Mayo, owner and visionary of The Caverns, first experienced the magic of cave concerts through a radio program launched in 2008. bluegrass underground. Held inside the Cumberland Caverns in nearby McMinnville, it became a nationally syndicated television series on PBS a few years later. Over time, Sho outgrew his home, and Mayo decided to move on and find a cave of his own.
have a guess 10,000 caves in Tennessee, but finding an apartment large enough to become a concert hall – and that was available to buy – was like trying to find a rent-controlled apartment in Manhattan. Miraculously, Mayo eventually landed on the right location: the interior of Big Mouth Cave was as long as three football fields, a sturdy structure, and owners who were willing to accept an offer.
It took a large team including geologists, archaeologists and biologists and two years to responsibly convert the cave into caves. “It was excavated and outfitted with a drainage system beneath the concrete floor, as well as a stage, lighting and a professional sound system tuned specifically for the space, as well as bathrooms and concessions,” says Meltsen. “Construction took longer than you expected. Our team worked carefully to preserve the natural cave features for the local ecosystem and aesthetics for future guests.” In 2018, when the venue officially opened, bluegrass musician Billy Strings was the first to take the stage. PBS series, now called caverns sessioncontinues and maintains an archive of past performances available online.
Caverns have not only benefited music lovers. According to a local economist impact reportThe venue has generated $88 million in visitor spending and 146 jobs since opening eight years ago. When venues closed during the pandemic, Mayo and his team built an amphitheater on the property to hold outdoor concerts for 6,000 people. In 2022, they started an annual festival called cave festival Music above and below ground, as well as craft vendors, cave yoga and other activities. There are yurts, cabins, and on-site campgrounds for those from out of town who want to stay during CaveFest or after another concert.
The surrounding area offers plenty of beautiful places to visit above ground, so it’s easy to turn a concert into a weekend trip exploring Middle Tennessee. Here are some extraordinary places to visit if you’re in town for a show.
What to see and do near the caves
Fiery Gizzard State Park
Once part of South Cumberland State Park, the area was designated as a state park in 2025. It’s known for the rugged 12.5-mile Fiery Gizzard Trail, which rewards backpackers with waterfalls (including one at 60 feet), swimming holes, and dramatic views. Foster Falls is a national destination for rock climbing, with over 150 routes for climbers of all skill levels. Denny Cove is another popular climbing spot.
Savage Gulf State Park
This park has some of the most beautiful scenery in the state and hiking trails for all activity levels. The Stone Door Trail is less than a mile long, but it’s a memorable one: hikers descend natural stone steps to reach the trail’s namesake ten-foot-wide stone crack, which offers breathtaking views of the creek (valley) below. Less trafficked, but equally beautiful North and South Rim TrailsIn which there are total 18 scenes.
domain
The University of the South, commonly known as Sewanee, is a small liberal arts college with a large campus – 13,000 acres to be exact. This densely wooded area, called The Domain, has 65 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. I took a peaceful Sunday morning walk around the main campus, which is supposed to be One of the most picturesque schools in the country for its Gothic Revival architecture and old-growth trees.
Cumberland Caverns
If you haven’t enjoyed the underground yet, check out this historic landmark in Middle Tennessee. With a 27-mile long passageway, Cumberland Caverns is the state’s longest show cave (made accessible to the public). Inside, you’ll see pools, waterfalls, minerals, and a variety of speleothems (stalagmites and stalactite-like formations). There are many walking tours available, as well as adventure tours, including climbing and crawling. If spending the night underground is on your list, you can do that here too.
Adventures for afield
Located in the village of Leepers Fork, about an hour and a half west of The Caverns, fischer off-road is a family-run company that offers visitors the exciting chance to explore the back roads of Tennessee in Can-Am Commander and Defender side-by-side vehicles. Although I’m very nervous to drive, I loved traversing the rocky dirt roads and water crossings as a passenger and hearing stories from our expert guide about the area’s bootlegging past.
Natchez Trace Parkway It’s one of the most scenic drives in the country, but like me, you’ll find yourself drawn in a lot. The 444-mile road features nearly 100 well-marked historic sites, trails, waterfalls, and campgrounds. The two highlights for me were hiking a densely forested path along a peaceful river Devil’s Backbone State Parkand visit Jackson FallsWhere a short but steep walk on a paved path took me to the base of a beautiful waterfall surrounded by high, winding rock walls. Both are about two hours away from the caverns.
Lisa Cericola is a freelance journalist based in Birmingham, Alabama who covers food, culture and outdoor experiences across the South. He is a former deputy editor southern lifewhere she ran the brand’s food and travel departments, and her work has also been revealed garden and gun, USA Today, And South sideamong others.
