Join us as The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour returns to Tupelo, MS at the Link Centre Saturday, August 3 at 7:30 pm. Guests will include author (and Tupelo native!) Paige Williams (The Dinosaur Artist), blues guitarist Dexter Allen and soul rockers, Matt Stansberry & The Romance. The show is hosted by Jim Dees and our house band, the Yalobushwhackers.
Admission is free and open to the public. A cash bar with beer and wine will be available.
Both bands will perform full sets following the radio show from 9-10 pm.
The Link Centre Concert Hall is located at 1800 West Main Street in Tupelo. A pre-show dinner will be offered from 6-7:15 pm. Tickets for the dinner are $25 which includes a free beverage and a reserved seat for the show. For more information visit https://thackerdinner.eventbrite.com or call 662-690-4011.
This episode of Thacker Mountain Radio will not be broadcast live but will air on Saturday, August 10 at 7 pm on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, 9 pm on Alabama Public Radio. The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour can be heard every Saturday at 7 pm in Tupelo on WMAE 89.5 FM and on WMAV 90.3 FM Oxford.
In her 2018 New York Times Notable Book, The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth’s Ultimate Trophy (Hachett Books), Paige Williams “does for fossils what Susan Orlean did for orchids” (Book Riot). This is a riveting account of one Florida man’s reckless attempt to sell a dinosaur skeleton he has obtained from Mongolia. The twisting story stretches from Florida’s Land O’ Lakes to the Gobi Desert and is a stunning work of narrative journalism steeped in natural history, human (bad) behavior and even politics. (See bad behavior).
Readers will be fascinated by the story of Eric Prokofi, whose Florida childhood as a shark’s tooth diviner leads him to Wyoming, Montana, Canada, and eventually Mongolia in search of Tarbosaurus bataar, first cousin to T-Rex and worth $1.5 million on the “gray” market, where international law was unclear and even unformed until now, 65 million years after these magical creatures roamed our planet. Williams presents a riveting story of intrigue and adventure, a pleasing primer on paleontology, and a masterful portrait of her cast of characters.
This irresistible story spans continents, cultures, and millennia as Williams examines the question of who, ultimately, owns the past.
“Vivid storytelling…. A triumphant book.”—Publishers Weekly
Paige Williams is a New Yorker staff writer, Harvard Neiman Fellow, graduate of Columbia and the University of Mississippi, and a native of Tupelo. She is the Laventhol/Newsday Visiting Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. The Dinosaur Artist is her first book.
Dexter Allen is a Crystal Springs, MS native who was first exposed to guitar in the church of his musical pastor parents. He went on to become an award-winning blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. For many years he was the lead guitarist in the band of veteran blues entertainer Bobby Rush.
Since then, Allen has developed his own live show featuring his driving guitar style and consummate showmanship.
Allen’s latest CD is Dexter Allen: Live from Ground Zero Blues Club. His previous albums include Bluezin for Life, Bluez Of My Soul and Trilogy Of My Blues.
Here’s Dexter’s funky Coming Home To Mississippi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13cWOIWG2c4
Matt Stansberry & the Romance are a nine-piece band from Oklahoma City who blend Memphis rock ’n roll, Detroit soul and New Orleans funk with the songwriting of their namesake leader to create their own contemporary, yet classic, soul-inflected party sound. Since their freshman album, Let’s Brighten It Up in 2012, the group has released a total of three studio albums, three singles, an EP and a live album. Additionally, Stansberry has released a solo studio album featuring Romance bandmates, a solo EP and three singles, including a live cut of “Thrill Is Gone” from an opening set for Robert Cray at the historic Tower Theatre in OKC.
Check out the band rockin’ Sun Studios in Memphis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yzqnmEe1Ek
