Thacker Mountain Radio Kicks Off Double Decker Arts Festival Friday

The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour kicks off the Double Decker Arts and Music Festival this Friday, April 22 at 7 p.m. on the Double Decker Ole Miss Sports Stage at 300 North Lamar Boulevard.

A pre-show concert by Memphis songwriter Cory Branan is set for 6 p.m. followed by the Thacker show. Friday evening wraps up with a concert by Austin, Texas rockers, the Nightowls at 8 p.m. Admission is free and the public is invited and lawn chairs are encouraged.

The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour will welcome guests, author Kiese Laymon, songwriter Cory Branan and Austin rockers, the Nightowls. The show is hosted by Jim Dees and Thacker house band, the Yalobushwhackers, featuring Memphis multi-instrumentalist, Eric Lewis.

Broadcast is tentative for WUMS 92.1 FM and online (pending conditions) on MyrebelRadio.com.

NOTE: This is the last live Thacker show in Oxford until Sept. 1. The show can be heard every Saturday at 7 p.m. throughout the spring and summer on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

Kiese Laymon, a Jackson native, is the author of the novel, Long Division; collection of essays, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America and a forthcoming memoir, Heavy. A reviewer described Long Division: “A Twain-esque exploration of celebrity, authorship, violence, religion and coming of age in Post-Katrina Mississippi, written in a voice that’s alternately funny, lacerating and wise.” Laymon served as the 2015-2016 John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at Ole Miss.

Cory Branan is a singer/songwriter from Southaven whose work has drawn comparisons to John Prine and Leonard Cohen. Branan’s CDs include, The Hell You Say, 12 Songs, Mutt and his latest, The No-Hit Wonder (Bloodshot Records). Grammy-winning songwriter Jason Isbell said of Wonder: “Beautiful melodies, heartbreaking phrases and very smart lyrics. This is the kind of record that makes you hit pause every so often to process what the crazy bastard just said. Brilliant stuff.”

The Nightowls are a soul band from Austin, Texas, formed in 2011. Their debut album, Good As Gold, was named one of the Top 10 Austin Albums of the Year. Their follow up was FAME Sessions. Texas Music Magazine calls their music, “a dancing-in-the-street spirit straight outta Motown.” In July, the group will release a new EP, The Royal Sessions recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis. This month the band performed at South by Southwest as a “Showcase Artist” for the second year in a row.

The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour can be heard every Saturday night at 7 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, radio or online: MPBOnline.org/programs/radio/listen-live/.

More information is available at the show’s website: ThackerMountain.com. Photos of past shows can be found on the show’s Facebook page and podcasts can be heard on the show’s Soundcloud page at Soundcloud.com/ThackerMountain.

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