Saturday, June 5 – The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour welcomes author Mary Miller, funk band, the Blackwater Brass Band and Gulf Coast bluesman, Jamell Richardson. This show was recorded in August, 2017 at the beautiful Mary C. Cultural Center for Art and Education in Ocean Springs, MS.
Hosts: Jim Dees and Thacker house band, the Yalobushwhackers
Air times – On line and on air:
Saturday, June 5 – 7pm (CT) Mississippi Public Broadcasting
9pm (CT) Alabama Public Radio
3pm (ET) WUTC – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Thursdays 6pm (CT) WUMS – University of Mississippi
Fridays 9am (CT) WYXR – Memphis Community Radio
Mary Miller, in this appearance from 2017, reads from her story collection, Always Happy Hour (Liveright/Norton). Combining hard-edged prose and savage Southern charm, the sixteen stories weave tales of young women who are deeply flawed and intensely real. The New York Times calls the book, “a harrowing yet ultimately enjoyable collection.”
Her latest book is the novel, Biloxi. Her previous books include the short story collection Big World and a novel, The Last Days of California.
Miller is a former James A. Michener Fellow in Fiction at the University of Texas and John and Renée Grisham Writer-in-Residence at Ole Miss.
She lives in Oxford, Mississippi with her husband, Lucky, and her dog, Winter.
Blackwater Brass is an Ocean Springs-based 10-piece funk and jazz band. While the group is heavily influenced by New Orleans mainstays such as The Meters, Galactic, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, they regularly drop in hints of gospel, pop and electronica. Their music is so hot and spicy it inspired a beer. Last spring, Ocean Springs brewer, Crooked Letter Brewing, created a one-time batch called Blackwater Brew V2, a pale ale infused with habanero peppers. The band’s latest release is the EP From The Cupboard.
Jamell Richardson began his career in gospel before branching out into blues, R&B and rock and roll. He served as guitarist for the Mel Waiters Band which led to a part in the 2014 James Brown bio pic, Get On Up. Since then, Jamell has shared the stage with such legends as Al Green, Bobby Womack, Denise LaSalle and Bobby Bland. In 2015, he won a national contest to earn a performing slot at the popular Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Ala.
Richardson’s releases include Blues How I Wanna Blues and the EP, Gulf Coast Blues Boy.
Richardson lives in Mobile, Ala.
