The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour is excited to announce two new members to its production crew as well as a date for the show’s 25th anniversary on the air.

Katelyn O’Brien is the show’s new Executive Director. Her duties will include all administrative, grant writing and fundraising as well as overseeing some 30 live shows a year while managing a dozen crew members. O’Brien spent the past decade at Square Books, eventually becoming the store’s Event Coordinator.

Tim Lee is a musician and author who is Thacker’s new production director. Lee will oversee the live show, book guests and organize road performances. Lee has 40 years of touring and booking experience. Along with his wife Susan, the two perform as the rock duo, Bark, which won the 2020 Contemporary Music Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters for their album, Terminal Everything. 

Longtime Thacker host, Jim Dees, is excited about the addition of O’Brien and Lee. 

“The crew and I look forward to working with both of them,” Dees declared. “They both have solid experience in areas that can really help the show. From what I’ve seen so far, they’re cooking up an exciting fall.”

Along with Dees, the show’s house band, the Yalobushwhackers, will also be returning: Ricky Burkhead on drums, Slade Lewis on bass, Mark Yacovone on piano and Paul Tate on guitar and vocals. The show’s sound engineers are Jeffrey Reed and Blake Gardner.

Following a triumphant show at this year’s Neshoba County Fair that featured country trio, Chapel Hart, from NBC’s America’s Got Talent, Thacker Mountain Radio Hour will perform road shows at the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson (Aug. 20) and a sold-out show at the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs (Aug 27).

Oxford performances begin on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 6 pm at the Powerhouse Arts Center (413 S. 14th Street). Admission is free and an after party will follow the season premiere show at 7 pm. Guests will include novelist Matt Bondurant, Delta pianist Eden Brent and avant garde Alabama guitarist Jody Nelson. 

Nelson will perform for the after party following the show.

Fans are asked to mark their calendars for Thursday, October 20 at 6 pm at the Powerhouse. That’s the date for the show’s 25th anniversary show. Guest performers will be announced soon. 

Other notable dates include Sept. 8 with author Scott Satterwhite (“A Punkhouse in the Deep South”) indie band, Happy Landing and songwriter Rachel Maxann; Sept. 15 with The Wildsam Field Guide to Oxford, MS; Sept. 22 with poet Derrick Harrell; Oct 6, a return visit to Off Square Books with horror writer Andrew Soto (“Concerning Those Who Have Fallen Asleep: Ghost Stories”) and the season finale on Nov. 17 with Sean Dietrich (“Sean of the South”).

Thacker Mountain Radio Hour can be heard every Thursday at 6:00 p.m. on WUMS – University of Mississippi during the fall and spring and heard every Saturday at 7 pm on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

The show is also broadcast on Saturdays at 9 pm on Alabama Public Radio; 3 pm (ET) on WUTC – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Fridays at 6 am on WYXR – Memphis Community Radio.

For more information and frequents updates visit https://thackermountain.com/.