Host Post: Get ‘wild’ at Sarahfest

We always have a good, solid Thacker Mountain Radio Hour with our friends at Sarahfest from the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies at Ole Miss. Over recent years we’ve done this show at Mr. Faulkner’s Rowan Oak, outdoors under the stars, in front of his stable on his paddock, channeling the ghosts of the great man and his horses.

This year, we’ll haunt our usual home at Off Square Books under the twinkling disco ball.

Our author will be the 2019-2020 John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi, January Gill O’Neil. Her latest poetry collection is, Rewilding. The title refers to returning an area of land to its original state. Who doesn’t need more wildness in their life? We’ll welcome January and her family to the wilds of Oxford. Details here.

As usual, the Sarafesters have come up with two cool bands: Chócala, (Choke-a-la) is a Charlotte, N.C.-based funk band that mixes Latin rhythms, rock, and jazz, with a touch of tropical psychedelia. Check out their recent appearance at the North Carolina’s Governor’s Mansion.

Alabama Rose is a “punktry” band fronted by the fiery Ms Rose, “the love child of Quentin Tarantino and Wanda Jackson, and Elvis and Tina Turner.” Here they are outside and unplugged in Florida.

Speaking of fiery, the real Sarah Isom (1854-1905) (above) apparently needed no “rewilding.” She was a world-class orator who became the first female faculty member at the University of Mississippi. She was also known to rail against female students who attended college solely to find a husband.

Oxford lawyer and Faulkner friend Stark Young noted that Isom was, “a striking redhead with a forceful personality and daunting work ethic. Her favorite pastime was to drive out into the country with her maid where she enjoyed meditating amid the trees and smoking cigars in private.”

Thacker Thursday – wild and smoky, tropical and psychedelic, Elvis-y and Wanda-esque – plus a disco ball! It’s Sarahfest time again!

— Jim Dees

The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour Thursday, Oct. 10 at 6 pm at Off Square Books (129 Courthouse Square, Oxford, MS 38655). FREE admission.

Guests: Poet January O’Neill (“Rewilding”), alt-rockers Alabama Rose (“Good Times for Bad Girls”) and Latin funk band, Chócala (“Chócala”).
Hosts: Jim Dees and our house band, the Yalobushwhackers

Radio: WUMS 92.1 FM (Oxford)
Online: http://myrebelradio.com/

Sarahfest is a month-long celebration featuring concerts, lectures, art exhibits and more: https://sarahisomcenter.org/events