Paul Thorn
By; Debbie Brautman | Photos: Chris Schmitt
The Many Talents of Paul Thorn and His Words of Wisdom
Every so often a talent comes along who clearly stands out. Luckily for South Florida, Boca Raton’s Funky Biscuit was smart enough to realize that, as Paul Thorn has played there multiple times and is building a devoted following. His recent concert, on January 20, 2025, was entertaining and refreshing. Being from Tupelo, Mississippi, home of Elvis Presley, his music is an inspired blend of Americana, rock, blues. country, gospel and soul. When asked if Elvis Presley was an inspiration, he said, “Of course,” and his only regret was not being able to sing with him. I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with this charming man of many talents, and he is one of the most naturally funny guys. Anyone at his show can attest to that, as he had the audience laughing at every word. His winning personality comes through in his songs, and his live stage patter. His music is top notch and infectious. He is a brilliant singer/songwriter, who is very relatable. He started off the new year with a blast of new music from his latest album, Life is Just a Vapor, just out in February. New songs, like the title track and “Tough Times Don’t Last” are uplifting and welcoming in these trying times. His message is that tough times don’t last but tough people do, so get back up and never give up. On his song, “Life Is Just A Vapor,” he stresses, “every day’s a gift, it’s gone before you know it.” There’s a message in all of his songs and humor propels his funny yet hopeful messages.
Out of his 14 or so albums, which are all great, his latest album might be his best yet. When asked if he was satisfied with his new album, he didn’t want to brag but admitted he was really happy with it. As he put it, “I had a lot of help and am very proud of it. It might be the best thing I’ve done and my best body of work overall because of the level of the songs and the production. It really came out like I wanted it to.” His band has been with him for over 20 years and they are all excellent. The title track starts the first line with a nod to his legendary friend, singer-songwriter John Prine. “Me and John Prine was eating ice cream/ at the Double Tree Inn Suite 1019. Don’t tell Fiona she won’t understand.” He explains, “John invited me and a few other friends to come to his hotel room and have some ice cream after the show…I went on Facebook and I wrote about my encounter…his manager called my manager and said, ‘Take that post down immediately, John is a severe diabetic, and his wife Fiona is going to kill him for eating ice cream.’” But seriously, Thorn is just trying to put out good work that will be remembered, like Prine’s work. He opened for John Prine, approximately 50 times, and got to know him well. One of the highlights of his life was performing “Paradise” on stage with him. He appreciated what a great privilege it was to know him and what a sweet man he was. He said, “I could’ve never written that opening line about John Prine, if it wasn’t for those experiences with him. “Life is just a Vapor” is his favorite song on his new album, for its message. He explains, “It’s the shortness of life in general, but the importance of enjoying what we have instead of whining about how little time we have.” He is 60 years old and grateful to be alive.
There are many other clever gems on the new album. “I Love You Like a Cigarette” addresses toxic relationships where you have something that is not good for you, but you can’t let it go. Just like cigarettes. “Wait” is a very catchy song inspired by a friend of his, who stayed all day long on the dating app Tinder trying to get hook ups. His friend was successful and took all his dates to Popeye’s Fried Chicken, because he knew the manager and had 2 for $20 coupons. His friend did get slapped when attempting second base. It’s very funny. The chorus goes, “Don’t do it all on the first date…leave a little something on the plate…WAIT” He then sing/raps, “The conversation flowed. The chicken got cold. We both agreed Jackson Browne finally looks old.” So true. Sadly, his friend passed away, but the inspiration for the song remained. Thorn incorporates so much humor in his lyrics and the music is hypnotic. “Geraldine and Ricky” is also based on real people. Well, one real person and a wooden dummy. Geraldine was an actual traveling evangelist who couldn’t connect with the children until she tried ventriloquism, and the kids were mesmerized, including 5-year-old Thorn, who requested, and got, a ventriloquist doll for Christmas. It obviously left an impression on him from all those years ago.
“Chicken Wing” has a chunky T-Rex “Bang a Gong” groove. In his early pimping days, they called him “chicken wing.” “I’m Just Waiting” explores relationship insecurity where he is just waiting for his extremely hot girlfriend to drop him. The lyrics are, “I’m just waiting for her to break my heart.” This song is not about his wife but was written 25 years ago. He was dating an extremely hot and beautiful girl. People can relate how she was just so good looking, and he was so insecure. Joe Bonamassa guests on guitar. How did he get the famed guitarist on this song? Thorn jokes, “I called him and asked him what he wants to play on my record. He said he’d do it for two diet cokes. If this record explodes, I will get him a whole six pack.” “I Knew” expresses his love for the girl of his dreams in a tender and loving way, while “She Will” warns an ex’s new conquest of the dangers ahead. “Old Melodies” offers advice, comfort, support, and encouragement and “Courage my love” lists the ingredients for making a marriage work. Thorn declares, “It’s hard to get a record heard nowadays. If you are an artist, it’s like being a needle in a haystack… I think I got something here. I don’t mean to boast, but any song on this record, you can put the needle down and you’ll hear a good song.” Couldn’t agree with him more. They are well-crafted and memorable. In addition, songs performed like “I guess I’ll Just Stay Married” and “Joanie The Jehovah Witness Stripper” are really funny and were audience pleasers.
His life story is interesting, too. When asked about his early upbringing, he explained that his father was a Pentecostal preacher and his uncle Merle was a pimp, so he was raised with both the light and dark influences. He explains, “One thing they had in common was the gift of gab. They knew how to get a crowd interested and keep them entertained.” When asked what has become of Uncle Merle, he adds, “Now in his 70’s, he redeemed himself and drives a van for an old folks home.” Of course, Thorn has a humorous song and previous album paying tribute to them called “Pimps and Preachers.” He was a young disciple in their school of life, one showed him how to love and one taught him how to fight. They told him, get out there in the game, don’t sit up in the bleachers, so he owes a debt of gratitude to pimps and preachers.
Another talent was being a professional boxer. He was ranked 29th in the world in his weight class. In 1988, the highlight of his boxing career was having a televised match in Atlantic City fighting against Roberto Duran. He made it through six rounds being tough as nails, which later turned into another song called “I’d rather be a hammer than a nail.” He wisely decided that although he was a good fighter, he wasn’t on the level of a great fighter and said goodbye to boxing. He said, “I didn’t quit but had taken it as far as I could.” He worked in a furniture factory for twelve years and turned to his original love of music, as he had been singing in church since he was 3 years old. As a teenager, his cousin, who was a keyboard player in Parliament Funkadelic, saw his potential. He introduced him to established songwriter Billy Maddox, who became a mentor and songwriting partner. They began writing songs together since Thorn was only seventeen years old and continue to have a longtime collaboration. Maddox also manages and produces Thorn’s albums. Thorn sang these early songs for years at Vanelli’s Bistro pizza restaurant in Tupelo, Mississippi. Miles Copeland, rock manager for The Police, heard a cassette of Thorn’s and flew down to Tupelo to see him play there. Copeland got him signed to A & M Records, and his first album, Hammer and Nail was released in 1997. Thorn started opening for Sting of The Police. Then, he also opened for other major artists like Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Beck, Mark Knopfler and Richard Thompson, to name just a few. In Europe, he had opened for Jools Holland and Marianne Faithfull (recently deceased). He said she was an eloquent and sweet lady. He appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live, NPR, and charted on Billboard’s Top 100 and Americana charts. He gets around and has no shortage of work. In Mississippi, there is a Paul Thorn Day, which is a state award for his contribution to the arts. He joked, “I got a day named after me without being assassinated.”
He also is a talented painter, and I don’t mean houses. He did the artwork for his latest album, as well as several other of his album covers. His artwork for his Pimps and Preachers album has a lithograph for sale on his website, as well as a puzzle of the artwork. Another feather in Thorn’s cap, which made him feel great was when legendary singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, who he knew pretty well, loved his song “Where Was I?” and recorded it. Billy Ray Cyrus recorded Thorn’s comedic song, “Burn Down The Trailer Park.” The band Sawyer Brown recorded his song “800 Pound Jesus” and “Mission Temple Fireworks Stand.” Thorn received a gold record for Toby Keith’s spectacular version of Thorn’s song “Double Wide Paradise.” It’s 
Thorn’s time to shine while performing his own songs. When asked how he likes life on the road, he replied, “It’s like any job. Fun at times and sometimes it feels like work. I get to do what I do but the biggest challenge is the balance of keeping my family and career. I go home, go back out on the road, go home and go back out again.” He had a special moment when he sang, “Breaking Up for Good Again” at the Grand Ole Opry with his wife. She had only sung at church, previously. His daughter, Kit, also sang a song on one of his earlier albums and she is a great singer and a music teacher in Nashville. He performed on the Sandy Beaches cruise earlier this year and had fun. He enjoyed seeing Los Lobos and Delbert McClinton, who were also performing. The Sandy Beaches yearly music cruise invited him back for next year’s cruise. Same thing for repeatedly playing Nashville’s famous Ryman Auditorium. He is grateful for being booked again. It’s a blessing to him that every year his audience has gotten bigger. Confident, yet very humble, the more you learn about him, the more you gotta love him. He seems to be a great guy and is very kind. I told him if only more people were like you, the world would be a better place. He jokingly added, “I got you fooled.”
When asked what music artists he is listening to now, he named the superb Scottish band Del Amitri. He said, “Talk about being underappreciated, they are great songwriters and a wonderful group.” He also ordered an album on eBay that his mother had brought home when he was five years old. It is Brenda Lee’s By Request. She is most known for “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” He adds, “She was the Britney Spears of the 1950’s, but musically, I’m all over the place. Tomorrow I might be listening to “Back In Black” by AC/DC.” When he was young, the rock band Kiss came to his town, and he was not allowed to see them play because of his strict religious upbringing, as they were believed to be the devil’s music. Surprisingly, the first concert he ever saw was when he opened for Sting. As a kid, he had to hide his first two rock records from his father. They were Elton John’s Greatest Hits and Huey Lewis and The News. When asked if he has any acting plans, he said, “I’m good at being me, not sure I’d be good at being someone else.” One of the many wisdoms of Paul Thorn is, “Life is good but life ain’t fair. The world owes you nothing, so be happy with what you got and build on that.” He ended our talk with what Muhammad Ali would say, “Kids, brush your teeth every day and everything will be good.” Always hopeful and positive, he adds, “We’re all struggling right now, but it’s not the end, it’s just the beginning.”
