The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour will hold a special reunion show and after-party this Thursday, April 21 from 6–8 pm at the Old Armory Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi. The show will welcome longtime Oxford rock band, Blue Mountain, to kick-off a series of celebrations which will culminate this October with the radio show’s 25th anniversary on the air.
Admission is free and lawn chairs and picnics are encouraged.
Also featured will be the radio show’s co-founder, Bryan Ledford and his band, The Accumulators, featuring the Ledford Girls. The show’s literary guests will include Richard Howorth, co-founder of Square Books along with novelist (and former Thacker producer) Jamie Kornegay.
The show is hosted by Jim Dees and The Yalobuswhacker Big Band with the Thacker Horns and guest vocalist, Mary Frances Massey. The broadcast can be heard locally on WUMS 92.1 FM or online at https://onlineradiobox.com/us/wums/?cs=us.wums.
The radio show will broadcast from 6–7 pm followed by an after-party featuring Blue Mountain from 7–8 pm. Concessions at the event will include a cash bar for beer and wine plus a signature cocktail by Joseph Stinchcomb of Bar Muse and local caterers, Party Waiting to Happen.
Taylor Grocery will have a food truck on site offering chicken tenders, catfish plates, and BBQ nachos. Hawaiian Shaved Ice and Oxsicles will also be available.
The Oxford Old Armory Pavilion is located on the corner of Bramlett Boulevard and University Avenue.
Blue Mountain was founded in 1993 by vocalist/guitarist Cary Hudson and bassist Laurie Stirratt. Their previous band, The Hilltops, included Stirratt’s twin brother, John, who later co-founded Wilco.
From 1993 through their disbanding in 2001, Blue Mountain left a profound influence on the so-called ‘alt-country’ scene. The group toured extensively and released a series of highly regarded albums: Dog Days (1995), Homegrown (1997), Tales of a Traveler (1999) and 2001’s Roots.
For their Thacker appearance, Blue Mountain will include drummer Lee Ingram.
Bryan Ledford helped found The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour in 1997 as an alternative to late-night bar music. He has played with such bands as The Sincere Ramblers, The Kudzu Kings, and the Taylor Grocery Band.
Along with Ledford on guitar, The Accumulators include Austin Sorey (bass) and Matthew Magee (fiddle). The group also includes Ledford’s daughters: Lila Ledford on guitar, Lucy Ledford on fiddle, and Ava Ledford on fiddle.
Ledford and his wife, Leah, live in Jackson, Mississippi, with their four daughters.
Richard Howorth along with his wife, novelist Lisa Howorth, founded Square Books in 1979. Over the past 40 plus years, the store has served as an anchor for Oxford’s literary and cultural life and as a launching pad for numerous writing careers, including that of a young John Grisham and the late Larry Brown. Howorth has served as the president of the American Booksellers Association (1998–2000) and two terms as mayor of Oxford (2001–2009).
Jamie Kornegay is the author of the novel, Soil. From 2000 until 2005, he served as the producer of The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. During his tenure the show went statewide after being picked up by Mississippi Public Broadcasting. He lives in Grenada with his wife Kelly and their three children.
The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour wraps up its spring season at Old Armory Pavilion on Thursday, May 19. The show is set to appear in The Grove on Sunday, June 5 as part of the Summer Sunset Series.
This summer the show will hit the road for performances in Yazoo City, Clinton, Jackson, the Neshoba County Fair and Ocean Springs.More information is available at https://thackermountain.com/.
