Thacker Mountain Radio Hour returns to live performances on Thursday, February 12 at 6 pm at the Powerhouse Arts Center. Admission is free and the public is invited.
The long-running Oxford radio show also announces that Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB), the show’s radio partner for 25 years, will begin filming each show starting February 19 for weekly telecast later this fall on MPB-TV.
Guests for the February 12 show at the Powerhouse will include novelist Jenny Tinghui Zhang and her timely book addressing extreme celebrity worship, Superfan. Musical guests will include blues musician Keith Johnson and Delta/Americana songwriter Alanna Mosley. Hosts are Jim Dees with house band Paul Tate & The Yalobushwhackers. Doors open at 5:30 pm for refreshments; showtime is 6 pm. The Powerhouse is located at 413 S. 14th Street in Oxford.
Thacker Executive Director Lucy Gaines noted the show’s spring premiere was originally scheduled for February 5 before winter storms intervened.
“With so many people still without power, and resources so stretched, it felt appropriate to wait a week,” Gaines acknowledged. “We’re planning to turn next Thursday, February 12, into a big community thank you.”
This year’s Thacker spring season runs from February 12 through the finale on April 30 with March 12 off for spring break. All shows are free admission and are at the Powerhouse except February 19 (Water Valley); March 13 and April 9 (Off Square Books), and Friday, April 10 (Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale).
In other Thacker news, MPB will set up cameras at the Hendricks Building in Water Valley on February 19 to videotape that week’s show and will film every Thacker show thereafter. The TV version will eventually be telecast by MPB on air and online, possibly starting this fall. Meantime, radio listeners can continue to enjoy Thacker Mountain Radio Hour on its usual days and times.
Kathryn Rodenmeyer, Director of Television for MPB, said putting Thacker Mountain Radio Hour on television was an easy call. “We’re delighted to add Thacker Mountain Radio Hour to our MPB Television line-up,” Rodenmeyer declared. “After 25 years on radio, we think our television viewers will enjoy the literature and music as much as generations of radio listeners.”
Royal Aills, MPB Executive Director, agreed, adding, “As we continue to look for ways to improve our content and provide audience and community-driven programing, Thacker Mountain Radio Hour helps us tap into the South’s authors and musicians, some of which are this state’s most important cultural exports.”
Among the musicians, authors, and “cultural exports” coming up this season: author LaToya Watkins, Grisham Writer-in-Residence (Feb. 19); former Oxford resident (and Oxford Eagle reporter) Jonathan “Jonny” Miles (Feb. 26); Patti Smith guitarist, (as well as author and 60s playlist curator extraordinaire), Lenny Kaye (March 5); and author Tayari Jones with Memphis reggae band, Chinese Connection Dub Embassy (March 19).
Other highlights: Oxford Conference for the Book with author Tom Junod & The Otha Turner Boys (March 26); the Parchman Prison Blues Band (April 2), and the Juke Joint Festival with Red Panther Brewery and author Ralph Eubanks (April 10), and novelist Willy Vlautin with the Epic Funk Brass Band (April 23).
Thacker Mountain Radio Hour can be heard on air and online in Oxford every Thursday at 6 pm on 92.1 FM WUMS University of Mississippi, and twice a week on MPB: Saturdays at 5 pm and Sundays at 6 pm (90.3 FM locally). In addition to MPB and WUMS, other affiliates include Alabama Public Radio; community radio stations in Memphis, Chattanooga and Knoxville, and KNCE-FM in Taos, New Mexico.
For schedule changes, updates or to join the fun: https://thackermountain.com/.
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