by Jim Dees – An enigmatic piano is at the center of a brilliant new novel we’ll feature this week on The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. (Thursday, Jan 31 at 6 pm at Off Square Books in Oxford. Admission is free). In, The Weight of a Piano (Knopf) by Chris Cander, the titular instrument haunts…
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The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, Oxford’s award-winning music and literature show, will open its spring season this upcoming Thursday, Jan. 24 at 6 pm at Off Square Books. Guests for the first show will include acclaimed debut novelist Garth Greenwell and Mississippi blues musicians Ben Wiley Payton and Watermelon Slim. Admission is free. Off Square…
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The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour has issued a statement thanking all of its supporters and donors and the show’s executive producer/director says the show is primed to have an “even bigger and better year” in 2019. “On behalf of the Friends of Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, we’d like to thank our Thacker family and the…
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by Jim Dees – An author reads from their work and a band plays their latest tunes. It’s a pretty simple formula. The catch is, the author and the band have to be sincere, talented and hard-working and, while they’re at it, show us a new way to see truth. For the past two decades…
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It’s the party of the year – and you’re invited! The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour will host its annual holiday/membership party, including a very unique silent auction, on Friday, Dec. 7 from 6-9 pm at Southside Gallery at 150 Van Buren Avenue. The event will feature live music by Thacker’s house band, the Yalobushwhackers, as…
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by Jim Dees – We are reeling over the news that Snooky Williams of Water Valley has passed away. He was 87 and had been very sick but prior to his illness, Snooky was so very much alive. He and his sweet (and unnaturally funny) wife, Mary Lou, were the earliest supporters of our show,…
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by Jim Dees – Oxford’s rich musical history has been well-documented by The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. Recent guests have included Jim Weatherly, Cary Hudson, Effie Burt, Guelel Kumba, And the Echo, (one of the show’s founders) Caroline Herring, and (next week’s guest) Cedric Burnside. Our radio show has been fortunate to be in a…
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by Jim Dees – Not many people can say that Coach Johnny Vaught and Gladys Knight and the Pips were among the most influential people in their lives – OK, only one person can say it: Jim Weatherly. Weatherly played quarterback for the Ole Miss Rebels from 1961-64 and played rock and roll in nightclubs during…
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by Jim Dees – When the Thacker Mountain brain trust (not me) discovered there was a ukulele band in Memphis, their first thought was, ‘Who can spell, ukulele?’ We booked them and luckily there is spell check and an album, The Memphis Ukulele Band (Blue Barrel Records) to uke to. Memphis Ukulele Band For most,…
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by Jim Dees – In 2012, Beck-Dorey Stein was like so many twenty-somethings: broke, working several jobs and haunting Craigslist. In fact, it was answering one such ad – for a stenographer – that propelled her on a most improbable five-year odyssey in the Obama White House. Her job entailed recording and transcribing every word…
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