Take a radio road trip to the birthplace of the king of rock 'n' roll for a Tupelo honey of a show—recorded at the Link Centre, a former church that's now the arts-and-education hub of Tupelo, MS. Tune in for an evening of music, poetry, stained glass and padded pews.
The guests: Poet Derrick Harriell, blues musician Marcus "Mookie" Cartwright, soul-pop rockers Hannah Gill and the Hours
The time: Saturday, August 11, 7 p.m. Central on your MPB radio station or online
Your hosts: Jim Dees and house band the Yalobushwhackers
Click here for more information about Thacker Mountain Radio Hour—celebrating the music and stories of the emerging South.
Literature
Derrick Harriell
In Derrick Harriell’s latest poetry collection, Stripper in Wonderland (LSU Press), percussive poems move from birth to death, funk to hip-hop, and racism to religion as Harriell explores the life of a modern black man transplanted from the American Midwest to the Deep South.
Harriell directs the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at the University of Mississippi. His previous poetry collections include Cotton (2010), and Ropes, which won the 2014 Poetry Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.
Music
Hannah Gill and the Hours
Maryland native Hannah Gill and the Hours blends 70s lo-fi pop and rock with contemporary soul and blues. Songwriter/vocalist Gill's soulful, lush vocals are set off by Brad Hammonds’ jazzy arrangements and improvisational guitar. Hannah Gill and The Hours have just released a new five-song EP, Lost in Words.
Marcus "Mookie" Cartwright
Marcus “Mookie” Cartwright started out as teenage prodigy learning Howlin' Wolf songs at the knee of Hubert Sumlin. He is now an accomplished live performer who moves easily between acoustic and electric blues styles. His Marcus “Mookie” Cartwright Band appears widely on the festival circuit and showcases Cartwright’s formidable guitar skills.