Scenes from Cave Music, a series of concerts in a Crown Heights cheese cave

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An underground cavern at Crown Finish Caves in Crown Heights is the setting of a bi-monthly folk / Americana music series called Cave Music. Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

Last Thursday, an intimate audience of roughly 80 people gathered to see musicians perform in a cavern below Crown Heights. Called Crown Finish Caves, the century-old chambers are used to age 28,000 pounds of cheese that are revered by the city’s chefs and cheesemongers, as Meredith Craig de Pietro reported in a story about the history of this “underground” business.

One cavern sits empty, though, aside from the bi-monthly performances it hosts by folk, blues, and Americana musicians as part of CFC’s Cave Music series. Tickets sell out in about a minute, as last week’s show did, featuring folk guitarist and songwriter Jefferson Hamer and singer Eva Salina and accordion player Peter Stan.

The wait list was 492 people long. Photographer Regina Mogilevskaya was in attendance and described the atmosphere 30-feet below ground as, understandably, chilly (most kept their jackets on throughout the show). Regardless of the temperature, “The vibe was cozy, and the music was really great, as were the acoustics,” she said. Take a glimpse at her photographs from the last concert then sign up for the mailing list and mark your calendar to get tickets to an upcoming performance.

Jefferson Hamer was a spellbinding guitarist and storyteller. Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

The caves are 30 feet below ground, and many, including singer Eva Salina, kept their jackets on. Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

Eva Salina, a California-born musician, sings in Romanian and Peter Stan accompanies with a Serbian-style of accordion. Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

Throughout Salina explained the meaning and inspiration of the songs they performed. Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

This being a cheese cave, there was of course, plenty of Crown Finish Cheese for snacking and for sale. Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

Also for purchase was Crown Finish Smoked Cheddar grilled cheese, served with cave fermented sauerkraut, and assorted cheese plates with house-made pickles. Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

Transmitter beer was on tap for the evening. Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

The wait list was 492 people long. To try to get tickets for the next concert, sign up for CFC’s newsletter and set your alarm for noon on the on-sale date. Photo: Regina Mogilevskaya

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