Thursday, Oct. 8 – Live show/TV taping! Powerhouse Arts Center 413 South 14th St. Oxford, MS
FREE Admission!
Doors: 5:30 pm – Refreshments
Red Panther Brewing Co. – Cathead Distillery
Show: 6 pm – Book signing: 7 pm
** NOTE: This show will be filmed by Mississippi Public Broadcasting Television. (Air date TBA) **
Author: Deesha Philyaw – The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman (Mariner Books) – “A rollicking satire of Black megachurch culture featuring an irresistible fireball of a protagonist…. Scharisse is an irresistible character.” Kirkus Review
Music: Henry Jones – “Theres only two kinds of music, good and the other kind ” Duke Ellington.” Ima try for the first one.”
Music: Back Alley String Band – North MS/Memphis based string band trio
Hosts: Jim Dees with our house band, Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhackers
Broadcast/online:
Thursday, Oct 8 – 6 pm (CT) WUMS 92.1 FM University of Mississippi
Thursday, Oct. 15– 8 am (CT) WYXR 91.7 FM Memphis, TN
Saturday, Oct. 17
5 pm (CT) Mississippi Public Broadcasting
9 pm (CT) Alabama Public Radio
Sunday, Oct. 18
2 pm (ET) WUTC 88.1 FM Chattanooga, TN
3 pm (ET) WUOT | 91.9 FM, Knoxville
2 pm (MT) KNCE 93.5 | Taos, New Mexico
6 pm (CT) Mississippi Public Broadcasting
Archived here (one month): Thacker Mountain Radio Hour / WYXR 91.7 FM Memphis, TN.
Deesha Philyaw is the author of the novel The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman (Mariner Books).
“A rollicking satire of Black megachurch culture featuring an irresistible fireball of a protagonist…. Scharisse is an irresistible character.” Kirkus Review
On the eve of her 40th birthday, Scharisse gets the final bit of validation she’s always dreamt of: a coveted invitation to participate in the First Lady USA pageant.
This is her chance to be accepted by the other pastors’ wives—First Ladies—who are “like Jesus’ disciples if they had been a group of mean girls.”
Finally, blissfully, the ice between Schar and the other First Ladies begins to thaw.
But as the pageant nears, a sensational scandal breaks with Schar at its center.
Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Story Prize, the LA Times Book Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.
“Deesha Philyaw has already established herself as one of the greatest short story writers, but in The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman she cements herself as the most soulfully entertaining writer of her era.” – Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy and Long Division
Born to Mississippi parents who filled the house with great American music, Henry grew up surrounded by the stirring sounds of soul and gospel that are never forgotten.
After a house party where the DJ accidentally left behind crates of records, he spent countless hours digging through a wide variety of music from the ’40s to the ’70s, taking note of what he heard.
Selling an old car gave him just enough to buy a pawn‑shop guitar, and from there the blues became the backbone of his style.
His sound blends pre‑war acoustic blues with the grit of rock and the soul of American roots music, creating something unmistakably his own.
He was a finalist in the 2024 IBC (International Blues Challenge ) and is currently touring, writing, and recording with a collective of musicians from across the country.
Two new EPs are underway—one rooted in acoustic songwriting, the other leaning into electric blues.
Back Alley String Band is a North MS/Memphis based string band trio that plays a mixture of Old Time, Bluegrass, Jug Band, Irish Trad, Hill Country Blues, Jazz, and much more, covers and originals.
The group consists of Andy Ratliff (guitars, banjo, mandolin, vocals), John Kilgore (guitars, ukulele, vocals) and John Kveen (upright bass, maybe vocals).
