Paul Thorn

Before making his name with a robust brand of American roots music, Paul Thorn from Tupelo, Mississippi, pursued an array of other pursuits. As the offspring of a Pentecostal preacher, the Mississippi native competed as a prizefighter during the 1980s and faced Roberto Duran, worked professionally as a skydiver, and clocked time as a factory employee. Beginning with the 1997 A&M release Hammer & Nail, Thorn has woven blues, rock, gospel, country, and soul into a distinctive Americana voice whose songs reflect the human condition through humor, irony, pathos, tenderness, heartbreak, grief, anger, and joy. His vocal style blends gravel and honey in equal measure. Thorn also maintains a parallel practice as an exhibiting painter. Mission Temple Fireworks Stand from 2002 delivered his initial international notice. Pimps & Preachers in 2010 marked his commercial breakthrough and reached the charts. Too Blessed to Be Stressed from 2014 supplied what Thorn himself described as “positive anthem songs” while appearing simultaneously on rock, indie, and Christian album charts. Don’t Let the Devil Ride in 2018 spotlighted several gospel numbers that had shaped him during childhood. Guest appearances came from the Blind Boys of Alabama, the McCrary Sisters, Bonnie Bishop, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The album reached number one on the Blues Albums Chart. August 2021 brought Never Too Late to Call, a set of organic demos expanded into finished tracks under producer Matt Ross-Spang.

Thorn entered the world in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as the child of a Pentecostal minister. His family relocated to Tupelo during his infancy. Throughout his youth and teenage years he performed in church and accompanied his father to revival meetings. Along the way he acquired facility on guitar, organ, and piano. Another formative presence was his father’s brother, a pimp; Thorn has stated that the two men together schooled him in the light and dark aspects of existence.

Although music surrounded Thorn daily, boxing initially claimed his professional ambitions. He boxed professionally throughout the 1980s. His 14-4 record featured the Mid-South Middleweight Championship won in Memphis, Tennessee, and a nationally televised bout against four-time world champion Roberto Duran, which he lost. Accepting that championship status would elude him, Thorn sought thrills through skydiving (169 jumps) and supported himself for a decade at a furniture factory, all while composing songs and hustling for any available gigs.

During a local singer/songwriter showcase at a Tupelo pizzeria in 1997, BMI executive Roger Sovine heard Thorn and was struck by his material, delivery, and stage presence. The executive offered to introduce Thorn’s name to Nashville labels. Weeks later Thorn performed a showcase for multiple labels at the identical pizzeria; among the attendees was A&R representative Wyatt Easterling, partner to Miles Copeland III in the Bugle Publishing Group. Easterling brought Thorn to Nashville, and within a month Thorn was opening shows for Sting. The artist soon signed with A&M and, before the year ended, recorded and issued his major-label debut Hammer & Nail. Thanks to connections at his label and management firm, he secured support slots with an eclectic roster of headliners. After A&M was acquired by Universal, Thorn moved to Copeland’s Ark 21 for the 1999 album Ain’t Love Strange, a fourteen-song set co-produced by Thorn and engineer/co-writer Billy Maddox under the respective pseudonyms “Sweet T” and “Black-Eyed Pea.” The record sold modestly but failed to chart. Thorn and his band promoted it across the United States and Europe for nearly two years.

Entering the new millennium, Thorn chose to operate independently. He established Perpetual Obscurity Records and released Live at Short Street Package Store. Working in Mississippi and Alabama studios with his own band and Maddox, he completed the widely praised Mission Temple Fire Works Stand, issued in 2002 with his own cover artwork and greeted by international acclaim.

Profiles and interviews appeared in numerous publications, and he received consistent airplay plus an NPR feature. The subsequent tour proved arduous yet rewarding. Thorn performed high-profile concerts both solo and alongside artists such as Bonnie Raitt. For 2004’s Are You with Me? he examined the complexities of love in a warmer, smoother, stripped-down production that incorporated R&B and Caribbean grooves, a sonic shift that nevertheless retained every hallmark of his songwriting.

A four-year recording hiatus followed, although he continued to perform regularly across the United States and Europe, documented on 2005’s So Far So Good: Best of the Paul Thorn Band Live. He returned in 2008 with A Long Way from Tupelo, which consolidated earlier stylistic explorations into a polished Americana sound and became his first charting album, reaching number 27 on the Independent Albums list.

Pimps and Preachers arrived in 2010. Its title track paid tribute to his father and uncle, while additional tracks such as “I Don’t Like Half the Folks I Love,” “You Might Be Wrong,” and “I Hope I’m Doin’ This Right” offered wry life observations. Once again Thorn supplied the cover artwork; the album peaked at number 12 on the Independent Albums chart.

What the Hell Is Goin’ On?, a covers collection released in 2012, contained Thorn’s interpretations of songs by Rick Danko, Allen Toussaint, Elvin Bishop, Donnie Fritts, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and others; it also reached number 12. Too Blessed to Be Stressed followed in 2014, with the McCrary Sisters providing backing vocals. Employing gospel, country, rock, and R&B idioms, the songs revisited familiar Thorn themes including Saturday-night transgression and Sunday-morning contrition. The album climbed to number 15 on the Independent Albums chart and number five on the Christian Albums chart.

Thorn maintained an intensive touring schedule through 2015 and 2016 in Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean while continuing to exhibit his paintings. Don’t Let the Devil Ride, a fourteen-track covers album issued in 2018, immersed itself in Southern gospel, soul, and blues, highlighted by a striking rendition of the O’Jays’ “Love Train.” Recorded at historic soul studios throughout the South, the project enlisted the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Bonnie Bishop, and the McCrary Sisters. It remained on the charts for more than twenty weeks, peaking at number 17 on the Billboard 200 while topping both the Blues and Gospel charts. Three months after release, Thorn’s sister Deborah received a cancer diagnosis and died four weeks later. A longtime night owl, she had offered companionship and counsel during his late-night calls from the road.

Guitarist Bill Hinds, Thorn’s bandmate of thirty years, departed in 2019 and was succeeded by Chris Simmons, formerly of the Leon Russell band. December 2020 saw the release of the single and video “It’s Never Too Late to Call,” inspired by the conversations Thorn and Deborah shared during those extended nighttime exchanges. The full-length Never Too Late to Call appeared in August 2021. Recorded at Sam Phillips’ Memphis Recording Service Studio and co-produced and engineered by Matt Ross-Spang, the album expanded organic demos into complete arrangements. Thorn co-wrote “Sapphire Dream” with his daughter Kitty Jones for a duet; “Breaking Up for Good Again” featured guest vocals from his wife Heather.