CaveJam “25: The Tip of the Spear

The String Cheese Incident returned to headline CaveJam, a two-day, two-stage festival at The Caverns over Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-25, 2025. Cheese played two nights with three sets above ground and one special set inside The Caverns’ world-renowned subterranean venue. Also on the bill were The Infamous Stringdusters, Andy Frasco and the U.N., Armchair Boogie, Bertha, Grateful Drag, Dizgo, Haley Jane Band, The Headhunters, Jesse Roper, Pajamas, Space Bacon and more. Welcome to  CaveJam “25: The Tip of the Spear. Send in the vanguard.

Moonpie and the Butterfly weren’t sure where they were going for Memorial Day but it was always a busy weekend for hippies. Usually, they would be meeting up with the Kamp Happiness Delta Force at Chillicothe and sitting in the dirt at Summer Camp Music Festival, but this year they were on hiatus. Other options usually included Rooster Walk with the Shawsvegas Mafia and Dark star Jubilee at Buckeye Lake. They were following the ancient tradition of attending the festival that most wanted them there, and they’d been invited to join the media team in Grundy County, Tenneessee for what would be their first trip to the Caverns. Louis had covered CaveFest and they had tickets to see the Floozies but Covid came along and queered that up. Now the stars were aligned and they were serving as the tip of the spear, heading in together, with only ignorance as their guide. You only get to do it the first time, one time.

After the late-late check out from Resonate Suwannee a few days earlier, Moonpie was still twitchy, reasonably convinced to stay home and convalesce before Mountain Music Festival. The Butterfly would have not of it and the Ten Year Anniversary Tour was still hungry for new meat. Attend fun parties and sooner, rather than later, you are going to run smack into the String Cheese Incident.

KH slid in Thursday night and boxed themselves between Hulaween beasts from Asheville and a more reasonable version of adult hippies across the street from Columbus. Buckeye Lake people to be sure. Although they didn’t yet know it, they were going to be “involved” with Paris Josephine, a twenty-one year old sage from the shadows of Mount Shasta, crossing the country solo, with a cooler and a stove which was more than they rest of them could usually boast.

Sometimes you wrangle and other times you get wrangled. After the breeze way setup from the week before, this party would be a bit more “intimate”. It was just the two of them and they weren’t expecting to run into anyone they knew, but it could be difficult to travel around this part of the world and not run into a few untethered scalawags. They were coming in “small dog” like they did at Gem & Jam, approaching the space with few preconceptions and less information.

Same as it ever was. In a new setting the first item is to meet the neighbors. Share what you got. Strike up a conversation. Sit a spell, stay a while. Fortunately, our Asheville neighbors had a few pickers in their ranks so Luna de Luna was ready to break out. They started the morning off with some Tony Rice and Jack Johnson so it was easy to see which way the leaf was curling.

Beyond the music, guests can take cave tours—including both guided walking tours for everyone and adventure tours with helmets and knee pads—or bring their own instruments to participate in an open cave jam. There will also be activities for kids, making CaveJam a destination festival for the whole family.

With stunning views of the Cumberland Plateau, The Caverns Amphitheater hosts crowds of up to 6,000 guests per show. The amphitheater has reserved chair seating available close to the stage for almost all shows. Guests in this front section have exclusive access to restrooms and their own bar inside the world famous subterranean cave.

The Caverns’ large, connected underground cave system covers over 8,000 linear feet of known surreal cave passages. Underground shows are hosted in a section of The Caverns historically known to locals and cavers as the Big Mouth Cave because of its impressive, large archway entrance. Experts believe humans have been using the cave to escape the heat, take refuge from rain, and enjoy each other’s company for up to 25,000 years.

Friday Cheese was joined by the Infamous Stringdusters a blistering outdoor set. Butterfly joined the Asheville parade and headed to the late night cavern set with Bertha and Grateful Drag. Jade from A Bazaar Universe and her wrist warmers were there, also fresh from Resonate. God, don’t these people ever sleep? Saturdays  cavern set was mas Queso. Inside the cave, Moonpie ran smack into Z. James. Kamp Happiness alumni, he’d come forth from the cracks of Lynchburg to the crags of Pelham. Thank ye gods. Sometimes good things happen to weird people. He was ranting on about the Cheese drum set with Kris Myers from “Umphreys” and his face melting.

In they end, they had successfully slid in for their first visit at the Caverns and were reminded that sometimes it’s about getting wrangled. Use the force of gravity and attraction and let yourself be sucked into the ether. We are reminded of the people we met at a music festival. By this time in life, it’s more than not. How many marriages, connections and great friends for life, so serious and real they often come to replace members of genetic family that had decided to move on to greener pastures. Life is just the patient act of building up a voluntary family, one screwball at a time.

What did they learn? The Caverns gets five stars on the Wook review. The drive there from Knoxville was stunning, with rolling hills shaded by deep, layered canopies. The walk to the venue was reasonable and the weather was here, I wish you were beautiful. Security was relaxed and other than a misplaced concern regarding Moonpie’s mainline to Jesus, there were few hiccups. One surprise was the outdoor amphitheater which was built deep into the natural bowl of the surrounding ledge. Truly a fantastic place to enjoy a show and have a date night. Cheese date night a still one of the best times a couple can enjoy.

Visit the CaveJam website and follow their social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram. Welcome to the matrix. Science doesn’t care if you believe in it or not. Check our platforms for upcoming events at the Caverns and like our pulp on the Wranglers family of social media gibberish as well. Our thirteenth floor admin and golden apple investors have decided to skip monetization and work directly towards an awkward, uncomfortable superstardom.

Thanks again to the Caverns for allowing Wranglers Media to join in the hard fun. Keep up with the team as they head to Mountain Music Festival, Bonarroo and Electric Forest. Then it’s a time of pause and planning while we gear up for FloydFest, a true cornerstone of our year and the Ten Year Anniversary Tour. Look for Luna de Luna around the campfire but don’t make eye contact.