On air and online: Wednesday, December 3 – Sunday, Dec. 6
Performers:
Music: The W Jazz Combo – Tennessee Williams’ favorite American genre performed by local faculty/student group
Music: Hartle Road – rootsy alternative from Lowndes County
Author: Michael Farris Smith (Lay Your Armor Down) – International bestseller, former Columbus resident
Hosts: Jim Dees with house band, Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhackers
(Recorded Nov. 2, 2025, outside of the Tennessee Williams House Museum in Columbus, MS).
Presented by the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area and the America 250 – Mississippi campaign. This Columbus, MS show will kick off a series of Thacker Mountain Radio Hour road shows honoring Mississippi’s creative history.
About the tour:
As the nation prepares to mark America’s 250th birthday in 2026, The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour seeks to honor the significant contributions of Mississippi voices to the American cultural heritage. In three live radio shows featuring Mississippi Hills musical talent and literary traditions, Thacker will ground our stage in the context of 250 powerful years of American history. From the porch to the airwaves, we’ll link the Mississippi towns of Columbus, Holly Springs, and New Albany in a three-town tour that proves what we’ve always known: local stories are America’s story.
This special America250 series is intrinsically linked to the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area, a region where Appalachian and Delta traditions meet and where literature, music, civil rights, and Native American history weave together into a uniquely American tapestry. Each stop on the tour is selected as an example of the way that our rich, layered stories foster the culture of creative expression synonymous with national identity. Hosted on historic sites, the road shows unite live performance, place-based storytelling, and community memory to celebrate how the voices of North Mississippi continue to echo through our national story.
Bring the kids and some chairs and say hey!
Michael Farris Smith’s latest novel is Lay Your Armor Down, “an atmospheric and spare Southern gothic of two unsavory men on a mysterious criminal odyssey and their encounter with a mystical young girl.” (Publisher’s Weekly)
Smith is an award-winning writer whose novels have appeared on “Best of the Year” lists from Esquire, NPR, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Oprah Magazine, Book Riot, and numerous other outlets.
Interesting note: Prior to publishing novels, Smith was an Associate Professor of English at the Mississippi University for Women (now known as the W) in Columbus, Mississippi.
Before teaching at the W, Smith lived abroad in France and Switzerland.
He now lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his wife and daughters.
The W Jazz Combo is a versatile group of faculty and students from The W’s Department of Music.
Their performances feature a variety of styles, including classic swing, manouche jazz, and tango fusion, reflecting the group’s diverse musical influences.
Through their work both on campus and in the community, the W Jazz Combo fosters appreciation for jazz and its ever-evolving expression.
Hartle Road features siblings, Toby and Max Hartleroad. Together with cousin, Myles Jordan and childhood friend Tyler Carter, they formed the group in rural Columbus, Mississippi.
Their releases include the album, MAXX II and the single, “Rear Projection.”
Their sound is imaginative and even “alternative” but rooted in Lowndes County, not far from the childhood home of Tennessee Williams (just down US Route 45 from White Station, birthplace of Howlin’ Wolf).
