The Bobalows, comprised of (clockwise, from top left) Chris Boykin, George Lawrence, Barry Bays and Scott Coopwood, will be featured during the award-winning Thacker Mountain Radio Show, slated for 3 p.m. Saturday, March 5, in Studio A, located on the campus of Delta State.CLEVELAND, Miss.—The Delta Music Institute (DMI) Entertainment Industry Studies program at Delta State University will host the award-winning Thacker Mountain Radio Show at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 5, in Studio A, located on the campus of Delta State.
The event marks the 12th year for the Thacker in the Delta event, which serves as a fundraising event in support of DMI programming and the Duff Dorrough Memorial Scholarship fund.
This year’s featured speaker will be DMI Director Emeritus and Professor of Practice Emeritus Tricia Walker.
Tricia Walker
Walker is a singer and songwriter whose songs are steeped in the passion, pain and grace of the American South. Born and raised in Mississippi, Walker has become one of the clearest voices of her own time and place. Her music has been recorded by Faith Hill, Patty Loveless and Alison Krauss, whose performance of Tricia’s Looking in the Eyes of Love earned a Grammy.
A recording artist herself, Walker’s CD, “The Heart of Dixie,” thoughtfully captures the songwriter’s view of the South with well-placed lyrics and music reflecting her folk, R&B and storytelling influences.
“Culture is a precious, living thing,”shared Walker. “It has to be nurtured if it’s going to survive. Any artist or creative thinker has a responsibility to help chronicle his or her own time, place and people. That’s the surest way to keep a culture from disappearing.”
Also featured at the event will be The Bobalows, Scott Coopwood (guitar/vocals), Chris Boykin (vocals), Barry Bays (bass), and George Lawrence (drums), whose material has been described by one music journalist as, “A little Americana mixed in with a nice dose of the Foo Fighters.” Their debut album “Flatlands” was recorded at Court Street Recorders in Cleveland, Mississippi by Scott Coopwood and Mike Iacopelli (Aretha Franklin, Funkadelic, Parliament, Walter Trout).
The album was mixed in Nashville by Mike Stankiewicz (Jason Isbell, Drive-By Truckers, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Don Henley). “Flatlands” was produced by Coopwood who also wrote all of the songs.
“The album somewhat pays homage to this special region of the U.S. where I grew up, the Mississippi Delta,” said Coopwood. “It’s also a look back at some of the trials and tribulations most of us experience in life.”
In addition to the featured guests, DMI alumnus Keith Johnson and DeltaRoX from the DMI will also perform. Thacker Mountain Radio is hosted by Jim Dees and features the show’s talented house band, The Yalobushwhackers.
Thacker in the Delta is open to the public at no charge, but gifts and donations to the Friends of DMI fund are encouraged. For online giving, please visit https://deltastategiving.org/product/music-institute
The Delta Music Institute is an independent center of study under the College of Arts and Sciences at Delta State University, offering a bachelors in entertainment industry studies. The focus of the DMI is to provide students with a broad and thorough education in the technological, creative and business areas of the music and entertainment industry. For more information, contact (662) 846-4579 or visit www.deltastate.edu/dmi.
