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Bluegrass Underground PBS TV Taping Returns to The Caverns for Jam-Packed Subterranean Weekend

Season XI to be taped for PBS, March 18-20, 2022. Tickets On Sale Now!

After being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted the live music industry in 2020 and 2021, Bluegrass Underground announced today new dates in 2022 for the TV taping of its next season, Season XI, on PBS. From March 18 through March 20, the Bluegrass Underground PBS TV taping in The Caverns will treat music fans to performances by the finest in roots and Americana music. This 3-day event features bonafide western-swing legends Asleep At The Wheel, bluegrass phenoms Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, two-time GRAMMY-winning producer and country rock trailblazer Shooter Jennings, alternative rockers Moon Taxi, blues innovator Buffalo Nichols, breakout confessional songwriter Katie Pruitt, Southern gothic songwriter Adia Victoria, emerging Americana sensation Brit Taylor, Mardi Gras Indian funk band Cha Wa, bluegrass meets hip hop mash-up Gangstagrass, bluegrass collaborative Watkins Family Hour and three-time GRAMMY-nominated indie folk duo The Milk Carton Kids.

Jam-packed into one epic weekend of underground concerts, the performances will be captured for the 11th season of the multiple Emmy Award-winning Bluegrass Underground series on PBS. To be at the 3-day live taping event is a music lover’s ultimate experience, especially for fans who revel in discovering new artists before they break into the mainstream. Season XI of Bluegrass Underground will premiere in the Fall of 2022 on PBS stations nationwide.

“At last, Bluegrass Underground is getting back to what we do best: capturing magical performances in a magical subterranean setting,” says Todd Mayo, Bluegrass Underground creator and co-producer. “As the second-longest music series on American Television, we’re grateful for our longtime partnership with PBS and WCTE. Together we’re able to bring television viewers a diversity of roots music from one of the most iconic music destinations in the world, The Caverns in Grundy County, Tennessee."

3-Day and Single Day Tickets are on sale now for the Bluegrass Underground PBS TV Tapings at TheCaverns.com. Tickets for the originally scheduled dates are good for the new 2022 dates.

The Bluegrass Underground PBS TV taping presents an early springtime opportunity to see a festival-worthy line-up. Tucked below the rolling hills of Tennessee inside The Caverns with a unique, world-renowned combination of established and buzzworthy artists, award-winning sound and lighting production, and breathtaking natural beauty, the Bluegrass Underground PBS TV Taping is a 3-day fete like no other.

The Bluegrass Underground PBS TV tapings in The Caverns feature a clean-and-comfortable, fan-friendly environment, complete with high-quality concessions and beverage offerings, including craft beers, seltzers and cocktails in cans.

Stay & Cave hotel packages make for a perfect and easy weekend getaway. 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 PBS TV tapings than a Stay-and-Cave package.

Most importantly, as it’s been since Bluegrass Underground began in 2008, music remains the main course. Here’s the lineup for Bluegrass Underground Season XI PBS TV Taping in The Caverns:

FRIDAY, MARCH 18

  • Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway - Molly Tuttle is an artist on the leading edge of bluegrass music, steeped in tradition while driving the genre forward in today’s musical landscape.
  • Cha Wa - Emerging from the deep-rooted New Orleans cultural phenomenon of Mardi Gras Indian music, Cha Wa is a Grammy-nominated funk band, reverent of tradition, and inspired by today’s social environment. On stage, they’re pure joy.
  • Gangstagrass - Blending bluegrass and hip-hop may seem like an unlikely recipe for success, but don’t tell that to Gangstagrass, an Emmy-nominated bluegrass/hip hop outfit.
  • Brit Taylor - Capturing life and pain with poetic ease and plain honesty is what this emerging Americana sensation does best with her empathetic and empowering songs.

SATURDAY, MARCH 19

  • 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.
  • Watkins Family Hour - Led by Sean and Sara Watkins, known for their work in Nickel Creek, Watkins Family Hour is a musical outlet for the siblings' own songwriting, arrangements, and experimentation.
  • Katie Pruitt - Exploring complex emotional ground, covering topics such as mental illness and the frustration and difficulties of growing up gay in the Christian South, Katie Pruitt’s music is honest, vulnerable and absolutely beautiful.
  • Buffalo Nichols - How do you bring the blues of the past into the future? Buffalo Nichols has found a way. He’s the first blues act signed by revered record label Fat Possum in nearly 20 years.

SUNDAY, MARCH 20

  • 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.
  • Moon Taxi - They’ve sold out The Caverns and they’re a festival favorite across the county, Moon Taxi’s genre-bending musicality is adventurous and exhilarating to see live on stage.
  • Shooter Jennings - The scion of American music royalty, for nearly two decades, Shooter Jennings has defied expectation while constantly expanding the parameters of country, rock ‘n’ roll and beyond.
  • Adia Victoria - Continuing the rich legacy of Black Southern storytelling, Adia Victoria’s lyrics feel weighted by a Southern heaviness that is so often smothering, but the music is also buoyed by rhythm and melody that illuminate the best of what the region has to offer.

Tickets and overnight packages for the Season XI taping are on sale now at thecaverns.com.

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

Three million years in the making, The Caverns welcomes all to the Season XI taping of the iconic PBS television series, Bluegrass Underground.