Cover photo © 2025 Bob Kieser
Many blues listeners are probably unaware of the existence of Paul Thorn. And that is a shame. While Thorn is not a died-in-the-wool blues artist, his musical roots extend deeper into the genre than many of the bands and artist being marketed as something they are not.
Another thing that separates Thorn from the pack is his ability to write songs that tell stories, often in humorous fashion, and with subtle insights or off-the-wall references that stick in your mind. It doesn’t hurt that he also consistently manages to compose musical accompaniment that helps flesh the stories out, whether it be with a guitar hook with his band at their rocking best or a stripped down acoustic treatment for a tender ballad.
Asked about his connections to blues music, Thorn was quick to set the record straight.
“I don’t consider myself a blues artist, but I am blues-ish. I’m a big fan of the blues. One of the first records I ever bought was a B. B. King Live In Cook County Jail. And then I had one called Down Home Blues by ZZ Hill. I wore those records out, listening to those when I was young. So there’s blues in what I do.
“I can’t say I’m John Lee Hooker. I’m a songwriter that seems to appeal to the blues audience. And I’m thankful I got invited in. The artist’s job is to endear themselves to the audience. So I don’t worry about, did I play the blues. If that comes in, great. I’m just going to be me all the way. Luckily, if you just be yourself, you don’t have to remember how to act. I’ve been accepted into the blues world, and I’m thankful for that, because I love blues, but I’m a songwriter. The thing that’s been a godsend is that it seems like there’s a group of people that have found what I do, and they like it. And they’re blues lovers. So I’ve been invited into the club of blues.”
Indeed he has. Thorn makes regular appearances on music cruises like the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise and the Sandy Beaches Cruise, which was started by the acclaimed singer Delbert McClinton. Thorn also is a regular at the prestigious King Biscuit Blues Festival, held in Helena, Arkansas.
Growing up, Thorn started singing in church at an early age. And given where he grew up, there was a strong musical influence from one particular artist.
“I grew up singing in Pentecostal church. My dad was a preacher. I grew up in the same town that Elvis Presley grew up in, Tupelo, Mississippi. I literally attended some of the same churches that Elvis attended. Also, I was friends with Brother Frank Smith, the man who taught Elvis how to play guitar when he was a kid. So I’m really connected to that whole Elvis thing. Even though we’re from a different generation, me and Elvis have a lot in common. We both grew up on that type of gospel music, that Pentecostal black gospel music. We both had a thing for that.
“Man, kids growing up now, they don’t even know who Elvis is. I mean, I live in Tupelo, Mississippi, where he was born, and fewer and fewer tourists are coming to see the birthplace of Elvis Presley, because the new generation has no reference of it. It doesn’t mean nothing to them. They missed his life and all the excitement, hype and everything. So they don’t have a lot to relate to at all.
“I’m not making this up. Yesterday morning, me and my wife got up, had some coffee, and from front to back, we watched one of those horrible Elvis movies called Blue Hawaii. We watched the whole movie, and it was so horrible, we couldn’t take our eyes off of it. It was so bad, it was awesome! You know what I mean?
“In every movie Elvis would do the same thing. He would get in an argument with some guy who’s a bully. The other guy would always throw a first punch So Elvis gets knocked down, and then he gets up, knocks the other guy out, and then coincidentally there’s a guitar laying right there, so he just picks it up. After he cold cocks this guy, he just picks it up and starts singing, “Hula baby rock, hula baby rock.” You know, it was awesome!”
Thorn stayed with music, writing songs and still singing in church, eventually singing in bars, doing the typical stuff that all aspiring musicians do. He got discovered by a big-time manager and got a record deal on A&M Records.
“Ever since then, I’ve been doing this full time for over 30 years. Even though I’m not a household name, my career and my audience have gotten bigger every single year. There’s never been a year where everything’s went backwards. That’s because I get out there and I grind, I tour, and I build my fan base. It’s served me well, sticking with music.”
Thorn had a second career. He studied boxing, developing his skills to the point where he was a ranked Top Ten contender in his weight class. That led to a major bout that became the defining moment of his career.
“My uncle was a boxer. I looked up to my uncle when I was a kid and when I found out he was a boxer, it made me want to be a boxer. I wasn’t the greatest, but I was very good. I was good enough that I got to fight Roberto Duran, who during his career was a World Champion in four different weight classes. I lost on cuts after six rounds, but I took boxing as far as I could take it.
“Once I realized that I couldn’t be a champion, I don’t like to say I quit, because quitting is not taking it as far as you can take it. I took it as far as I could take it. I didn’t quit. I just knew my limitations. I couldn’t beat a world champion. If you can’t be a world champion, you don’t even need to be a boxer. Because otherwise, you’re just going to wind up getting your brain scrambled. My brain is scrambled, I know that. The main reason boxers fight too long is because it’s the only thing they know how to do. But I was fortunate when my time of boxing came to an end, I had music to dive into, and it has served me well.
“I did well in that fight. I got cut early on, and then the cuts start getting worse and worse. I was what was called a bleeder. There are certain boxers that their skin just breaks. And I have real sharp cheekbones, so my facial skeletal structure is just idyllic to get cut. And so I got cut up. But I’m in an elite club of people that can say they got to fight Roberta Duran. They don’t let you just walk in the ring with the bird, you gotta whoop some folks. And I whooped a lot of folks. I’ve received a few whoopings and, and I delivered a few whoopings. I was good enough to get in there with him and it’s one of the things I’m most proudest of. I know I may be the only person that got to ride in an ambulance to the hospital with Roberto.
“See, I busted his eye open, so I got some punches in. He actually told me after the fight that I hurt him. What people don’t understand about boxing, what made him great is he was so hard to hit. He had this ability to move his head and stay out of the way, and that was his true gift. But I caught him one time with a left hook when he was on the ropes. When I hit him, his whole head just spun like a top. I dazed him, but he had so much experience, he grabbed me, and he pulled me in, and he held on so that I couldn’t hit him again. He was just so hard to hit.
“One of the things I have on my bucket list is that Roberto plays congas. He’s a salsa musician. I’ve already reached out to him once because I wanted him to play on one of my records. It wasn’t because I necessarily wanted congas on my album. I just want him on there doing something. So I reached out to him, but he had something else going on. I’m going to reach out to him again, reconnect with him. He’s 73 years old, beloved in the country he lives in, Panama. He owns a restaurant that shows his fights on the screens, so he’s like a Panamanian Colonel Sanders. I would love to go over there and sit with him in his restaurant, shake his hand, say thanks for the memories. I’m sure he would love to be remembered.”
Duran figures in one of Thorn’s originals, “I’d Rather Be A Hammer Than A Nail.” Other songs drawn from his life feature a wide range of subject matter run through the songwriter’s scrambled brain cells, making connections between old stray dogs, the Gospel, Pentecostal fireworks stands, trailer parks, and preachers.
On his latest record, Life is Just A Vapor, the singer revisits a topic from an earlier song, “Pimps And Preachers.”
“On the album is a song called “Chicken Wing. It’s about an old pimp telling stories about his life. The first pimp I ever met was my uncle. Since then I’ve met so many pimps and this one pimp had a nickname, Chicken Wing. It’s not really his story exactly. It’s a culmination of all the pimps I ever met. I’m saying it’s all a broad conglomeration. The thing about most pimps sadly, is pimps are cold. A pimp is somebody who promises you everything with no intention of ever giving you anything. That’s what a pimp is.
“You know, it’s like these record companies, a lot of them, they sign a singer, a young kid, and they put him in a limo, they put him in a hotel, they put him out on tour, but at the end of it, they take it all. They take most all the money and that’s what pimps do. They promise you this and that, but they never deliver. That’s reason I put that line in the song, “ I love my dog, I like my wife,” because that’s how they really feel. It’s funny to hear that in the song, but there’s a brutal side to that because I know pimps to this day, that if their woman walked away, they wouldn’t give a crap.
“Pimps don’t take care of you. You take care of them. Most of them wind up with nothing because they’ve exploited and used people all their life. You rarely see one that ends well. But I still have an affection for them because I grew up around them, and I learned one thing. The greatest advice a pimp ever gave me in life was how to get your woman back. When your woman leaves you, you don’t send her flowers, you don’t cry on the phone – you replace her. You replace her, that’s how you get her back. You see what I’m saying? You gotta let her know you got options. If your woman leaves you, you can’t get her back groveling, you gotta replace her. Once she finds out you got somebody else, then she’s gonna want to come back.”
These days, really good songwriters are seemingly in short supply. Thorn takes pride in his efforts, but is quick to share credit with those who have inspired him, and others who help him with the writing process.
“My songwriting mentors were actually country songwriters. Billy Maddox is the guy that I write with most of the time. He’s ten years older than me and when I met him, he was already having success as a hit country songwriter. Country songs are story songs, not so much modern country, but old country. All my songs are stories. Some people just put words in songs ’cause they sound good. But I try to make ’em mean something. Another well-known influence to a lot of people was Hank Williams Sr. If you listen to any of his songs, they’re so simple and eloquent. Every single line is a barn burner. Who can not relate to, ”I’m so lonesome I could cry.”
“That’s blues. It’s country, but it’s blues. Not to discredit anybody, but if you just go Do do do do do do do do all the time, where is the substance to that? You can go up there and noodle, show that you’ve got chops on a guitar or an organ, but without a song, it’s all gonna be forgotten real quick. Today it just doesn’t seem like people want to write a story. Another of my favorite writers is Roger Miller Is he a blues artist? No, but what is a better blues song than “King of the Road”? That’s a blues song. “Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let 50 cents. No phone, no pool, no pets. I ain’t got no cigarettes.” That’s a blues song. It just happens to be very melodic, and very well put together by a guy who learned the craft.
One song on the new album, “I Knew,” is different than the usual Thorn material.
“It’s a straight up love song. I’m not known for love songs, but I wrote that song with a great country songwriter by the name of Chuck Cannon, who co-wrote all those big, giant Toby Keith songs. Me and him wrote that song, which I’m proud of. It’s the only song on the record where it’s just me, my guitar, and my guitar player playing slide. It came out really good. When I was growing up, my sisters had records by this group called Bread. They had these awesome, beautiful love songs. And I wanted to write one that sounds like a Bread song. It’s a love song, unapologetic. Hopefully when somebody hears it, it’ll resonate with them and they’ll say, “I want to play this song for my wife or my girlfriend or, or maybe I’ll play it for my wife and my girlfriend. You know what I mean!“
The title track initially sounds like the songwriter is reflecting on his own mortality.
“It’s talking about enjoying every moment that you can. Older people better understand that life is just a vapor. When you’re 20 years old, it may not mean as much, but when you get a little miles on your car, your body and you go through the seasons of life, you see that it really is a short span, but I don’t think we should be sad about that.
“I just think we should find more ways to enjoy it. The origin of that song was I was having some ice cream with John Prine after a show one night. I got him in trouble for eating ice cream because I posted it on Facebook and his wife got really mad because John was diabetic. We were just enjoying ourselves that night. But it did make his wife Fiona mad because he may have shortened his life a little bit by eating that ice cream. But maybe it was worth it. Yeah, live it while you can. That’s what I’m trying to do.
“Joe Bonamassa is one of the big names in the blues world. He played on one song on my record about a worried, insecure man. I called Joe and said, “How much would you charge me to play on my record?” He paused for a minute, then says. ‘How about two Diet Cokes?” So I owe him two Diet Cokes. But I’m going to wait before I give them to him because I’m hoping this record will blow up, be real successful, and then I can afford to get him a whole six pack!
That song, “I’m Just Waiting,” opens with, “She called me baby 54 times today. All of my friends think that I’ve got it made.” But by the second verse, things quickly begin to unravel as Thorn relates, “For the second time this month it’s happened again. She thanked me for roses that I didn’t send.”
On “Wait,” a friend of Thorn’s is searching for love on Tinder, taking dates to Popeye’s Chicken to take advantage of discount offers. “We sat down at the table, It was understood. That two-for-$20 coupon was still good. The conversation flowed, the chicken got cold. We both agreed Jackson Browne finally looks old.” It is one more example of the off-the-wall images that Thorn conjures up.
“People always remember that line the first time they hear it. The thing I’ve always been amazed by is all throughout his career, Jackson Browne still looked like a young man, but then in the last couple of years he’s actually looking old. I thought that would be a nice thing to put in there, kind of tipping my hat to him, complimenting his longevity. He’s still out there still doing “Doctor My Eyes”. I’m hoping that he’ll hear this and laugh. I’m hoping he’s got a sense of humor about it. I think he will. A 20 year old ain’t going to get the reference. But people that’s lived a little, got some time in, they’ll get it and they’ll like it.”
Live and on recordings, Thorn’s band brings plenty of life to his worldly observations. Their tight sound is a product of time well spent.
“Well, obviously, to be in a band, you have to be able to play. The other thing I really search for when auditioning people to play with is identifying people that I think I could live with, people that I could travel with, people that I could be friends with. I know this is a cliche, but my band is truly a family.
“My drummer, Jeffrey Perkins, has been with me for 27 years. My keyboard player, Michael “Dr. Love” Graham, has been with me for 25 years. My former guitar player, Bill Hinds, was with me for 30 years. He finally retired, and Chris Simmons has been playing guitar for five years. Ralph Friedrichsen has been my drummer since 2010. The people that get in this group, they stay, because we pick the right people. Everybody in my band is a force. And I’ll tell you why. We keep improving as a band. Every night after our shows, we don’t dwell on it, but we talk about the mistakes we made. We acknowledge if we made a mistake or we could have played this better, I could have sang this line a different way.
“We don’t just pat each other on the back, ’cause the crowd will pat you on the back. But we know what we’re capable of. I want it to be to the point where if we have a bad night, they’ll still love it. If we have a bad night, we’re the only ones that know we had a bad night. That’s called being professional. And we pride ourselves on that.
“I’m 60 years old. My plan is to be able to continue what I’ve been doing, continue to grow my audience. I thank anybody that’s reading this or comes to a show. You are loved. And I thank the blues world for letting me be a part of it. I’m blues-ish, but I got accepted. For that, I am very grateful.”
