Thacker in the Delta!

Kicking off March in the land of the Blues!

Studio A - Whitfield Building - Delta Music Institute - Delta State University, Cleveland, MS March 1, 2025 at 3 pm

Saturday, March 1 – 3 pm – The Delta Music Institute (DMI), the entertainment industry program at Delta State University (DSU), will host the award-winning Thacker Mountain Radio Hour on Saturday, March 1 at 3 p.m. The one-hour show will take place in Studio A of the Whitfield Building on the campus of Delta State in Cleveland, MS.

This show will not be broadcast live but will be recorded for future air.

Doors: 2:30 pm – Admission is free and the public is invited.

The annual “Thacker in the Delta” program, serves to raise awareness for the many programs offered by DMI as well as place a spotlight on DSU’s Duff Dorrough Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is offered to students in art and music, reflecting two of Duff’s lifelong passions.

To donate: http://www.deltastategiving.org/duffdorrough

Dorrough served as the bandleader for the Thacker house band, the Yalobushwhackers, from 2005 until shortly before his death in 2012.

(Photo: Duff at Lyric Oxford, Dec. 2011)

Guests for Saturday, March 1:

Author: Max HippWhat Doesn’t Kill You Opens Your Heart – Debut story collection from Mississippi author

“Max Hipp is the last lost soldier of untenured working-class southern lit.” – Lee Durkee

Music: Harrell “Young Rell” Davenport – Teenaged blues phenom

Music: DeltaRoX– DMI student band performing classic rock from the 70’s and 80’s

Hosts: Jim Dees with Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhackers

 

Featuring

Author

Max Hipp

The characters in Max Hipp’s debut story collection, What Doesn’t Kill You Opens Your Heart (Cool Dog Sound), howl with loneliness.

They’ve reached the ends of their coping mechanisms and bank accounts and are making terrible life choices and trying to recover in the wake of them. We’ve got folks who can’t let go of the past, folks obsessed with sex and music, lovers stuck in dismal relationships, and clueless romantics who probably need their asses whipped.

Heartbreak piles up like car crashes in the fog, and everybody just has to carry on like everything’s fine.

These stories keep hitting the funny/sad notes.

“Max Hipp is the last lost soldier of untenured working-class southern lit. Unapologetically grotesque, delightfully craven, derangedly horny, and unforgivably honest, What Doesn’t Kill You… earns a spot on the shelf beside Dickey, Stanford, Portis, and Brown.”

— Lee Durkee, author of The Last Taxi Driver and Stalking Shakespeare

Music

Harrell "Young Rell" Davenport

Harrell “Young Rell” Davenport is an 18-year-old guitarist and harmonica player from Vicksburg, MS who can legitimately be called a “blues phenomenon.”

His very first playing gig occurred in Chicago and a Facebook capture of his performance garnered an astonishing 4,000 shares.

Since then, Young Rell has proven himself to be a dexterous and inventive guitarist and a fat-toned harmonica player.

He is also an accomplished songwriter currently working on his debut album.

Meanwhile, Young Rell will have a busy spring/summer appearing at such events as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival as well as blues festivals in Belgium and the Netherlands.

DeltaRoX

DeltaRoX, a student band from the Delta Music Institute, performs classic rock hits from the 70’s and 80’s.

The band has performed at DSU Pig Pickin’, DSU Homecoming, the MAC Conference, Crosstie Arts & Jazz Festival, Octoberfest, and at Tootsie’s, Douglas Corner Cafe and Airport Grocery.

The group has also been featured on past episodes of Thacker Mountain Radio Hour.