Thacker returns “better than ever” Thursday, Feb.1

The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour returns to live performances on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 6:00 pm at the Powerhouse Arts Center.

Guests for the season premiere will be Memphis novelist Eric Schlich, Oxford-based jazz/soul vocalist, Effie Burt and Delta bluesman (and great-nephew of Muddy Waters) Keith Johnson.

Admission is free and the public is invited. Doors open at 5:30 pm; showtime is 6 pm with refreshments available.

The Powerhouse Arts Center is located at 413 S 14th St., Oxford, MS.

The broadcast is hosted by Jim Dees with house band, Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhackers.

The season of live Thursday shows (Feb. 1 – April 18) can be heard locally on WUMS 92.1 FM in Oxford or online: https://onlineradiobox.com/us/wums/

The premiere marks the start of the show’s 27th year. Noting the show’s 25th Silver anniversary in 2022, Garden & Gun (Aug/Sept 2023) declared, “Thacker Mountain Radio celebrated 25 years and it’s better than ever.”

Longtime Thacker host, Jim Dees, agrees.

“I guess we’ve learned something in 25 years,” he muses. “With our new executive director, Amanda Wymer, and production director, Tim Lee, our house band, sound guys, interns and board members, and our friends at Square Books – it’s a cool group and they know how to put on a great show.”

Highlights for the spring 2024 season include:

Feb. 8 – Author Ben Wynne and his book, “A Hound Dog Tale: Big Mama, Elvis, and the Song That Changed Everything, a history of the Elvis hit, “Hound Dog,” at the Powerhouse

Feb. 15 – Jazz/soul singer Candice Ivory and her tribute to Memphis Minnie at Off Square Books

Feb. 22 – Acclaimed author Jill McCorkle Old Crimes: and Other StoriesGraduate Oxford

Feb. 29 – Memphis songwriters/roots rockers, Will Sexton and Amy LaVere at the Powerhouse

Other notable dates:

Saturday, March 2 – Author Di RushingDelta in the Review Mirror – A story of murder and wine in the MS Delta – Delta State University (3 pm – FREE Admission)

March 4 – Oxford Conference For The Book show at the Powerhouse

March 21 – 5 pm (early start time) – Oxford Film FestivalGertrude C. Ford Center

March 29 – Ole Miss Gospel Choir and special guest Cary HudsonThe Lyric Oxford 

April 18 – Gospel rockers The Wilkins Sisters – The Graduate Hotel

Road trip!

Clinton, MS (mid-June); the Neshoba County Fair outside Philadelphia, MS (July 27) and the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs, MS (Aug. 23).

Join us, won’t you? A year-long membership is $10 a month ($120 for the year). We perform 24 shows a year in Oxford – all free admission. Let’s keep this party going!

See you on the radio… online or in person!

J.D.