Thacker Mountain Pulls a Double Header

Show is live on Thursday in Oxford and then at Delta State on Saturday

It’s a double-header this week at Thacker Mountain Radio, with shows at the regular Thursday slot in Oxford and again on Saturday in Cleveland, Mississippi. Both shows are free and open to the public and will be hosted by Jim Dees and the Thacker house band, the Yalobushwhackers.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 6 P.M. — Off Square Books

With mystery author, Jenny Milchman, indie-rockers The Weeks and rocking soul music with the Bays-Guyer Band. Free admission. Radio: 92.1 FM. Online: www.myrebelradio.com.
Jenny Milchman (left) is a suspense writer from Morristown, New Jersey. Her debut novel, Cover of Snow (Ballantine) was published last month. The book tells the story of Nora Hamilton, who searches to find the truth behind her husband’s mysterious suicide in an insular, frigid mountain town. Milchman teaches writing and publishing at the New York Writers Workship. Last year she founded “Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day,” which is now celebrated nationwide.

The Weeks (right) are an indie-rock band from Jackson, Miss. who have toured with such groups as the North Mississippi Allstars and the Meat Puppets. Their CDs include Comeback Cadillac, Rumspringa, and their most recent, Gutter Gaunt Gangster which was recorded in Water Valley. Following their Thacker performance on Thursday, the band will play a full show at Proud Larrys’.

The Bays-Guyer Band (left) draws on their shared love of early rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, and soul. Their influences include, Dan Penn, Wilson Pickett, Little Walter, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. For their Thacker appearance, the band will perform an all-original set. Audiences may be familiar with Bud Bays and Kevin Guyer from their other fine local bands, including the Mississippi Cadillac Blues Band and the Okratones.

SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 3 P.M. – Studio A, Whitfield Building, Delta State University, Cleveland, Mississippi

“Trials of the Earth” with Sheilah Hamilton Patin; songwriter Kate Campbell, student band, Ol’ Skool Revue and a musical tribute to Duff Dorrough with Fish Michie, the Revelators and others. Free admission. (Air date TBA).

Trials of the Earth was written by Mary Hamilton (1866-1936) in 1931 as recollections of her harsh life in the Mississippi Delta during the latter part of the 19th century. The book has recently been re-issued with a new introduction by Morgan Freeman. Hamilton’s great-granddaughter, Sheilah Hamilton Patin, will discuss her great-grandmother’s incredible life and the publication of this historic book.

A musical tribute will be performed in honor of our late bandleader and friend, Jerry “Duff” Dorrough (right). Performers will include pianist Jim “Fish” Michie, guitarists Carl Massengale and Jim Ellis, and vocalists Bobby Harris, Tricia Walker and Jan Gibson Smith.

Singer-songwriter Kate Campbell’s (left) latest album is 1000 Pound Machine (Large River Music). The disc includes a guest appearance by Emmylou Harris and was produced by Will Kimbrough. Growing up in Sledge, Mississippi as the daughter of a Baptist preacher, Kate’s formative years were spent during the height of the civil rights movement of the 1960′s. Those experiences are reflected in her songwriting, as well as her love for soul, R&B, country, and folk music.

Ol’ Skool Revue (right) consists of students enrolled in the Delta Music Institute at Delta State. Founded in 2006, the band specializes in blues, funk and soul music and features different students each semester. Under the direction of music industry instructor, Barry Bays, the Revue has performed at numerous festivals and venues including the Chicago Blues Festival. Students in the Revue can earn a B.S. degree in Music Industry Studies.

Thacker Mountain Radio is now online twice a week, Thursdays at 6 pm on Rebel Radio 92.1 FM (www.myrebelradio.com) and Saturdays at 7 pm on Miss. Public Broadcasting, 90.3 FM (www.mpbonline.org). For more information, visit: www.thackermountain.com.