Most Thursdays around 5:30 p.m. on the town square of Oxford, Mississippi, you can find a unique celebration of the town’s two proudest artforms--literature and music--on display in a cavernous bookshop called Off Square Books. The hour-long variety show, staged before a packed house of supportive locals and curious visitors, combines author readings, live musical performances, and other bits of aural delight, broadcast live over the local airwaves. Its name is Thacker Mountain Radio, and in the seven-odd years it has thrived here, the show has grown enormously in performance, popularity, and publicity, having been picked up by Public Radio in Mississippi during the fall 2002 season.

   The latest leap in the show’s evolution is Thacker Mountain Radio: An Anthology of Words and Music, Live in Oxford, Mississippi. This two-disc compilation features some of the best author readings and live music from the show’s recent past. 

   Disc 1, “Words,” features a symphony of diverse voices, from Irish writer Anne Enright’s suburban gothic and Richard Flanagan’s mythical Tasmanian fiction, to William Gay’s Tennessee backwoods comedy and local favorite Larry Brown’s recollection of his ascension as a writer. Dynamic readings from eight vital voices on the literary scene.

   Disc 2, “Music,” brings together a revolving menagerie of musical sounds from the Thacker stage--Precious Bryant’s smiling upbeat blues, Marty Stuart’s mandolin-shredding country stomp, Gelel Kumba’s Senegalese chantey, Duff and the Revelators’ backporch gospel swing, Groove Collective’s organic jazz, the Mighty Stars of Harmony’s uplifting songs, and the North Mississippi Allstars’ finale jam with our beloved house players, the Taylor Grocery Band. (“You gotta have confidence to play this room!” bellows guest performer Luther Dickinson at one point.) Twenty-one tunes performed in a spontaneous revelry.

   We hope this CD reflects the array of cultures and ideas that share the stage each week on Thacker Mountain Radio, along with the diversity of artistic talent that finds appreciation in Mississippi. We are busy planning new and unusual combinations for the season ahead, and we welcome you to drop in and experience the show live or log on to our website, www.thackermountain.com, and hear the streaming internet feed.

   Give us a holler if you need to know more . . . or if you know of any writers and musicians with confidence. Contact Jamie Kornegay by telephone (662-236-2262) or e-mail (jamie@thackermountain.com).

   To purchase a CD, contact Square Books,160 Courthouse Square, Oxford, Mississippi 38655; telephone 662-236-2262; orders 800-648-4001; fax 662-234-9630 ; Web: www.squarebooks.com.

Jamie Kornegay