Blues and bluegrass!

Great tunes and a crafty whodunit!

Thursday, Feb. 6 – Sunday, Feb. 9 – On air and online:

Recorded at the historic Ellis Theater in Philadelphia, MS on 2-1-25 – Cool venue – great audience!

Guests: Country mandolin prodigy Wyatt Ellis, rhythm and blues powerhouse Vasti Jackson and Mississippi novelist Snowden Wright

Hosts: Jim Dees with Paul Tate and house band, the Yalobushwhackers

 

Airtimes:

Thursday, Feb. 6 – 8 am (CT) WYXR 91.7 FM Memphis, TN

Saturday, Feb. 8 – 3 pm (ET) WUTC 88.1 FM Chattanooga, TN

7pm (CT) Mississippi Public Broadcasting

9pm (CT) Alabama Public Radio

Sunday, Feb. 9

3 pm (ET) WUOT | 91.9 FM, Knoxville

2 pm (MT) KNCE 93.5 | Taos, New Mexico

Archived here: Spotify, SoundCloudGoogle PodcastiHeart Radio

Featuring

Author

Snowden Wright

Born and raised in Mississippi, Snowden Wright is the author of the crime novel, The Queen City Detective Agency.

The novel follows an unforgettable cast of characters starting with a jaded female private investigator, Clementine Baldwin. All become enmeshed in a criminal conspiracy in 1980s Meridian, Mississippi, a town that “attracts less-than-legitimate businesses, including those enforced by the near-mythical Dixie Mafia.”

The Queen City Detective Agency is a riveting, razor-sharp Southern noir.

“A picaresque saga stuffed with colorful characters, bursts of violence, droll banter and many twists.” — Wall Street Journal

Wright’s previous book, American Pop, was a Wall Street Journal Book of the Month and NPR Best Book of the Year.

He lives in Yazoo County, Mississippi.

Music

Vasti Jackson

Grammy nominee, Vasti Jackson, is a world-renowned guitarist, vocalist, composer, producer, actor, and musical director with over 40 years in the music industry.

His latest album is Royal American Blues, released this year.

Jackson’s (one of two) Grammy nominations came in 2016 in the Best Traditional Blues category for his album, The Soul of Jimmie Rodgers. Jackson also served as co-producer on Bobby Rush’s 2001 Grammy-nominated album, Hoochie Man.

Jackson recently toured Europe portraying Ike Turner in the stage presentation, Simply the Best: The Tina Turner Story. As a solo performer, he is a staple of European theaters and festivals.

Jackson is also active with the Playing For Change Foundation where he has helped develop fifteen music schools in eleven countries for more than two thousand students.

He has appeared in Playing for Change videos, including a 2023 cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” He can also be seen on the Grateful Dead song, Ripple, with Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, David Hildago of Los Lobos, and the late Jimmy Buffett and David Crosby.

Jackson is also a favorite in New Orleans. This past December he headlined a tribute to bluesman Lil Freddie King at the historic Dew Drop Inn.

Jackson lives in Hattiesburg, MS.

Wyatt Ellis

Billboard magazine recently stated, “Wyatt Ellis has quickly cemented himself as a sterling newcomer in the bluegrass scene.”

For proof, check Ellis’ debut single, “Grassy Cove.” The song shot to #1 on the Bluegrass Today charts upon its release in July of 2023.

The single is on Wyatt’s debut album, Happy Valley (Knee High Records), a curated collection of twelve original instrumental tunes written when Wyatt was twelve years old. The album is named for a holler near his home in East Tennessee in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains and features such bluegrass greats as Marty Stuart and Sierra Hull.

A devotee of Bill Monroe, Ellis has been mentored by top-shelf mandolin players such as Hull, Bobby Osborne, and Mike Compton. Happy Valley is dedicated to Osborne.

Wyatt was invited by Marty Stuart to be a part of the grand re-opening of the Ellis Theater in Philadelphia in December 2022. In February 2023, at 13 years old, he made his Grand Ole Opry debut where he received a standing ovation.

In 2024, Ellis was named International Bluegrass Music Association’s Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year.