Songwriter Talbot Adams is a New Orleans native and NYU graduate, now living in Oxford. His most recent release is Talbot Adams. In its review of the CD, Razorcake.org said: “Excellent pop songs with a spacey consideration in the vein of early Robyn Hitchcock with a hint of big beat garage influence. It’s simple trio rock with depth invested in variety. It sounds like an album rather than a bunch of songs.”

The Christian Lopez Band is a country/rock band led by 20-year-old songwriter, Christian Lopez of Martinsburg, West Virginia. Other members include, Chelsea McBee (banjo, vocals), Pete Teselsky (drums) and Mark Schottinger (bass). Their debut CD is Onward (Blaster Records). Following their Thacker appearance, the band will perform a full set at Shelter on Van Buren (1221 Van Buren Avenue – across the street from Off Square Books in the basement of Neilson’s).

Erik Larson is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, including his latest, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. (Crown). The book is a riveting non-fiction account of the sinking of the passenger ship, the Lusitania – the so-called, “other Titantic” – during World War I. Larson’s previous books include, In the Garden of Beasts, Isaac’s Storm and The Devil in the White City, an Edgar Award winner and National Book Award finalist. Larson lives in Seattle with his wife, three daughters, and dog, Molly.

William Joyce is an award-winning author/illustrator and filmmaker who has written and illustrated over 50 children’s books. His latest is Ollie’s Odyssey (Atheneum), an adventurous tale that describes “what really goes on with your stuffed animals when the lights are out.” Joyce won an Academy Award in 2012 for Best Animated Short film, (“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.”) He has won three Emmy awards for Rolie Polie Olie, an animated series based on his series of children’s books. Joyce has also illustrated numerous covers of The New Yorker. Joyce lives in Shreveport, LA.