The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour returns to live performances Thursday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m. at the Powerhouse Arts Center. The season premiere will feature Memphis novelist Eric Schlich, plus Delta bluesman (and great-nephew of Muddy Waters) Keith Johnson and Oxford-based jazz/soul vocalist Effie Burt.

Jim Dees hosts the broadcast, with house band Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhackers. Admission is free and the public is invited. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; showtime is 6 p.m., refreshments available. The Powerhouse Arts Center is located at 413 S 14th St., Oxford.

Thacker Executive Director Amanda Wymer says the Thacker crew looks forward to keeping 2023’s momentum going. “Like so many, we suffered our setbacks during the pandemic,” she noted, “but by the end of last year, there was momentum toward pre-pandemic form. We’re very excited for 2024. Our production team has come up with another exciting season. We’re ready to roll!”

The show is also in the process of confirming a series of spring and summer shows on the road.

Highlights for the spring 2024 season include the following:

• Feb.1: Memphis novelist Eric Schlich, Delta bluesman (and great-nephew of Muddy Waters) Keith Johnson and Oxford-based jazz/soul vocalist Effie Burt, at 6 p.m. at The Powerhouse, Oxford
• Feb. 8: Author Ben Wynne and his book, “A Hound Dog Tale,” a history of the Elvis hit “Hound Dog”
• Feb. 15: Jazz-soul singer Candice Ivory and her tribute to Memphis Minnie at Off Square Books
• Feb. 22: Acclaimed author Jill McCorkle (“Other Crimes”) at the Graduate Hotel
• Feb. 29: Memphis songwriters-roots rockers Amy LaVere and Will Sexton at the Powerhouse
• March 2: Delta Music Institute at Delta State University in Cleveland
• March 4: At the Powerhouse with the Oxford Conference for the Book
• March 21: Oxford Film Festival show at the Gertrude C. Ford Center, (early event at 5 p.m.)
• March 29: At the Lyric Oxford with the Ole Miss Gospel Choir and special guest Cary Hudson
• April 18: Finale at the Graduate Hotel featuring gospel rockers The Wilkins Sisters
• Mid June: In Clinton
• July 27: The Neshoba County Fair outside Philadelphia
• Aug. 23: The Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs

All Thursday shows can be heard locally on WUMS 92.1 FM in Oxford or online. Listeners can also tune in on Saturday nights at 7 p.m. on Mississippi Public Broadcasting (90.3 FM in Oxford) or online.

All Oxford performances are free admission and will vary in locations of the Powerhouse, Off Square Books, the Graduate Hotel and the Lyric Theater.

For a complete calendar of shows, venues, radio and on-demand platforms (including Spotify and iHeart Radio), visit here.

This year’s season runs every Thursday from Feb. 1 through the season finale on Thursday, April 18, with Thursday, March 14, off for spring break.