The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour returns to live performances on Thursday, February 1 at 6 pm at the Powerhouse Arts Center.
The season premiere will feature Memphis novelist Eric Schlich plus Delta bluesman (and great-nephew of Muddy Waters) Keith Johnson and Oxford-based jazz/soul vocalist Effie Burt.
Award-winning author Eric Schlich’s Eli Harpo’s Adventure to the Afterlife is an accessible and big-hearted novel that explores belief and forgiveness as a boy grapples with his faith and sexuality on a rollicking family road trip to Bible World.
Eric Schlich’s work has appeared in numerous publications and has been selected for prizes by writers including Roxane Gay, Helen Oyeyemi, and Justin Torres. He holds a PhD in fiction from Florida State University and an MFA from Bowling Green State University. He lives in Tennessee, where he is an assistant professor at the University of Memphis.
Effie Burt was born and raised in Oxford, Mississippi, as one of twelve musically gifted siblings. She has been singing since the age of 13 with her family at churches and local musical events in Mississippi and Tennessee. A now-proven performer at festivals and concert halls, Burt brings excitement to jazz, her first love, and engages audiences by belting R & B, her soothing blues and the homegrown sounds of gospel.
Keith Johnson is a traditional Mississippi bluesman who has toured across Europe and Brazil with The Big Muddy Band. Johnson is a graduate of the Delta Music Institute audio engineering program at Delta State University.
Admission is free and the public is invited. Doors open at 5:30 pm; showtime is 6 pm with refreshments available. The broadcast is hosted by Jim Dees with house band, Paul Tate & The Yalobushwhackers. All Oxford performances are free admission and will vary locations between the Powerhouse, Off Square Books, the Graduate Hotel, and the Lyric Theater.
For a complete calendar of shows, venues, radio, and on-demand platforms (including Spotify and iHeart Radio), visit: https://thackermountain.org/.
This year’s season runs every Thursday from February 1 through the season finale on Thursday, April 18, with Thursday, March 14 off for spring break.
Thacker Executive Director Amanda Wymer says the Thacker crew looks forward to keeping 2023’s momentum going.
“Like so many, we suffered our setbacks during the pandemic,” Wymer said, “but by the end of last year, there was momentum toward pre-pandemic form. We’re very excited for 2024; our production team has come up with another exciting season. We’re ready to roll!”
Some highlights for the spring 2024 season include:
- author Ben Wynne and his book, A Hound Dog’s Tale, a history of the Elvis hit, “Hound Dog” (Feb. 8)
- Jazz/soul singer Candice Ivory and her tribute to Memphis Minnie at Off Square Books (Feb. 15)
- acclaimed author Jill McCorkle (Other Crimes) at the Graduate Hotel (Feb. 22)
- Memphis songwriters/roots rockers, Amy LaVere and Will Sexton (Feb. 29) at the Powerhouse
- the Oxford Conference for the Book edition at the Powerhouse (March 4)
- the Oxford Film Festival show at the Gertrude C. Ford Center (March 21)
- the Ole Miss Gospel Choir and special guest Cary Hudson at the Lyric Oxford (March 29)
- Season finale with gospel rockers The Wilkins Sisters at the Graduate Hotel (Apr. 18)
The show is also in the process of confirming a series of spring and summer shows on the road. Dates include Delta Music Institute at Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss. (Saturday, March 2); Clinton, Miss. (mid-June); the Neshoba County Fair outside Philadelphia, Miss. (July 27); and the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs, Miss. (Aug. 23).
All Thursday shows can be heard locally on WUMS 92.1 FM in Oxford or online: https://onlineradiobox.com/us/wums/.
Listeners can also tune in on Saturday nights at 7 pm on Mississippi Public Broadcasting (90.3 FM in Oxford) or online: https://www.mpbonline.org/.
