Online and on air: Thursday, Feb. 20 – Sunday, Feb. 23
Recorded Feb. 13, 2025 at the historic Hendricks Building in beautiful, downtown Water Valley, MS! Cool venue, great audience!
This historic Water Valley building (20 miles south of Oxford) was built in 1860. Housing a machine shop, workers there produced everything from the town manhole covers to an array of machine parts. Later, the building served as a Ford dealership and from 2013 to 2019, the site of the much-lamented Yalobusha Brewing Company.
Guests:
Author: A.H. Jerriod Avant – Poetry collection, Muscadine – John and Renee Grisham Writer-in Residence at the University of Mississippi
Music: Marcella Simien – New album: To Bend to the Will of a Dream That’s Being Fulfilled
Music: Joe Austin and The Tallahatchies – Pour Me One More Paul – Rootsy North Mississippi country rock
Hosts: Jim Dees with Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhackers
Airtimes:
Thursday, Feb. 13 – 6 pm (CT) WUMS 92.1 University of Mississippi
Thursday, Feb. 20 – 8 am (CT) WYXR 91.7 FM Memphis, TN.
Saturday, Feb. 22 – 3 pm (ET) WUTC 88.1 FM Chattanooga, TN
7 pm (CT) Mississippi Public Broadcasting
9 pm (CT) Alabama Public Radio
Sunday, Feb. 23
3 pm (ET) WUOT | 91.9 FM, Knoxville
2 pm (MT) KNCE 93.5 | Taos, New Mexico
Archived here: Spotify, SoundCloud, Google Podcast, iHeart Radio
A.H. Jerriod Avant is the author of the poetry collection Muscadine (Four Way Books 2023), winner of the 2024 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award in poetry. Jerriod was born and raised in Longtown, Mississippi.
A graduate of Jackson State University, he has earned MFA degrees from Spalding University and New York University and a Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island.
Avant is the 2024-2025 John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi.
Marcella’s debut solo album, To Bend to the Will of a Dream That’s Being Fulfilled, is a deeply personal album that traces her family roots as well as her present-day experiences. She plays every instrument, wrote every lyric, and sings every vocal.
The album blends traditional instruments like the accordion and frottoir with contemporary production and electronic elements. Influenced by her love for Rāga and Indian music, Marcella also incorporates the harmonium and tanpura, creating a unique soundscape
A keyboardist, songwriter and vocalist from Memphis, TN, her previous releases include Live From Memphis and Marcella and Les Vagues. Her classic 2020 album, Got You Found, is now available on vinyl.
Originally from Louisiana, Simien practically grew up on stage with her father, two-time Grammy-winner and zydeco maestro Terrance Simien. She moved to Memphis to attend the Memphis College of Art and quickly became a solid fixture in the city’s vibrant musical family.
Fiddler/guitarist Joe Austin is originally from north Mississippi. After musical stints in Memphis, Nashville and Texas, he returned to Mississippi to team up with his band The Tallahatchies: Brian Sherwood (guitar), Jon Harrison (drums), and Wesley Graham (bass).
Their new single, “Pour Me One More Paul,” is now available.
A full-length album is forthcoming.