Thacker kicks off spring season with new shows, road trips

The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour kicks off its 2025 spring season on Thursday, Feb. 6. at 6 pm at the Powerhouse Arts Center.

Guests for the Feb. 6 season premiere will include Memphis poet Maria Zoccola, country songwriter Amber Rae Dunn and Oxford-based blues singer, Edna Nicole. The show is hosted by Jim Dees with Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhacker Big Band featuring the Thacker Horns.

Admission is free and the public is invited. Doors are at 5:30. Refreshments will be for sale and showtime is 6 pm.

The show will be broadcast live (and every Thursday in Oxford) on WUMS, 92.1 FM (online at http://myrebelradio.com/).

In Mississippi, the show can also be heard on air and online every Saturday night at 7 pm on Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB).

The broadcast is also available on public and community radio stations in Memphis, Chattanooga and Knoxville, TN as well as on the stations of Alabama Public Radio.

The program’s newest affiliate is KNCE (93.5 FM) True Taos Radio in Taos, New Mexico.

All shows are archived at WYXR Memphis (https://wyxr.org/thacker-mountain-radio-hour).

Thacker Executive Director Lucy Gaines is excited about the spring season.

“We ended last year with an increase in memberships and show attendance,” Gaines noted. “This year, we hope to continue that trend with some special events – Karaoke, maybe? – and more streaming, YouTube and social media, to help people enjoy the show and become Thacker Backers, even if they can’t attend in person.”

Production Director Tim Lee agrees with Gaines and admires this year’s musical line-up.

“As always, we strive to provide a diverse group of musical artists for our audience,” he points out. “I feel like we have a particularly strong lineup for the spring season.”

Highlights of the upcoming season include two local road trips: a show in Water Valley at the old Hendricks Building (Feb. 13 with Memphis musician Marcella Simien and poet A.H. Jerriod Avant) and a show in Taylor, MS at the Wonderbird Spirits Distillery (March 13 with former Big Star drummer Jody Stephens, author Sanjena Sathian and blues dynamos, Heartbreak Hill).

Other season highlights include: A show at Off Square Books with author Callan Wink and his thriller novel, Beartooth, with blues singer Candice Ivory (Feb. 20); a Mississippi roots show at the powerhouse with blues performers Heavy Drunk and Watermelon Slim with acoustic trio FERD (Feb. 27).

Also: Songwriter Claire Holley and lefty cigar-box guitarist Bear Ryan (March 20);

Mark your calendars for a very special show in conjunction with the Oxford Conference for the Book with author/musician Elijah Wald (Dylan Goes Electric – basis for film, “A Complete Unknown;” music historian Preston Lauterbach (Before Elvis) – and Grammy-nominated blues performer Jontavious Willis – April 3).

April shows will also include Memphis musicians Rachel Maxann and her group, Wildwood Reverie and Wyly Bigger (April 10); rocking blues duo Cash’s Juke Joint (April 17) and the season finale with local songwriter, The Great Dying (full band), soulful vocalist Damein Wash, and the Thacker Big Band featuring the Thacker Horns.

Spring and summer shows are being planned for Delta State University, Clinton, MS., the Neshoba County Fair, Ocean Springs, MS and Jackson.

Please visit the show’s website for frequent updates: https://thackermountain.org/.