When it comes to music that fires the heart and soothes the soul, Paul Thorn is in a class all his own. Last year, the album Don’t Let The Devil Ride found the former middleweight boxer reaching down into his Tupelo, Mississippi roots to come up with a collection of bluesy gospel tunes that rock as well as revive. The project inspired a documentary and the Mission Temple Fireworks Revival– an event featuring The Blind Boys of Alabama, The McCrary Sisters, Bonnie Bishop, and more. Throughout his 20+ year career, Paul Thorn has earned a reputation as a master songwriter and storyteller. Paul and his band are set to bring the power and glory alongside Reckless Kelly at The Hargray Capitol Theatre on March 30– and if you’ve never seen the Paul Thorn Band before, you’re in for a treat!
AI: We haven’t spoken to you since the last time you were in town, so we haven’t had an opportunity to talk about Don’t Let The Devil Ride… That seems like an album that you might have done before now. What ultimately led you to make a gospel album– that I feel in many ways comes across as a blues record?
PT: I grew up singin’ [gospel], and I told myself one day I’m gonna do a gospel record. This just happened to be the time I did it. I just always wanted to do one, and I decided I’d do it. It was the old black gospel kind of music that I grew up singing. We’d go to the black churches and that’s where I got my mojo from– singin’ in church– and so I just did it.
I read that you and your writing partner, Billy Maddox, y’all went digging for all of these obscure songs. What was that like? Did you have any precious discoveries that didn’t make it onto the album?
Yeah, we just dug around, listened to old records. We found all kind of just really obscure songs. We didn’t want to do songs that had been done a lot. We didn’t want to do like “I’ll Fly Away” and all that kind… We wanted to do songs that were a little less known. With the Internet, you can just find ‘em! You can go on Youtube and type in “Old Black Gospel Music” and all kinds of stuff will come up. We just dug around ‘til we found the ones we liked the best… A lot came out of {making the record]. We had the film– the documentary on the making of the record probably drew some attention to the gospel show. And this past year, me and the Blind Boys [of Alabama] and the [McCrary Sisters] and all of them, we did a lot of shows together. So a lot of good things come out of it.
Yeah, you did the big Mission Temple Fireworks Revival, which you’re doing again this year. Give me some of the details on that.
I come out– and I’m sort of the MC of the show– and the first thing I do is I bring out the McCrary Sisters, and they do a little short set by themselves. And then I introduce the Blind Boys, and they do a short set by themselves. The third part of the show is we all sing together. It’s a fun show. You know, everybody gets to showcase their own thing that they do by themselves, and then when we collaborate, it’s really, really a lot of fun.
You made the record the great Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis. As I understand it, they haven’t changed a whole lot in there. What’s it like to go in there and make a record?
Oh, it’s cool, man! Boy, they got the old vintage equipment that sounds good, but everything in there stayed the same– you know, 1960s furniture and shag carpet everywhere. It’s a cool place.
You think that’s what lent a lot of the blues flavor to the record?
Yeah. Blues and gospel came from the same place. You know, I live in Mississippi and all this type of music, that’s where it came from.
You also got to spend a great deal of time early on in your career at FAME Studios. Any good Rick Hall stories?
Rick Hall was the first person that ever signed me to a publishing contract. When I signed with Rick and them, I got to be around some professional songwriters, and that’s where I really learned the craft of songwriting– in the time I spent with Rick Hall. He believed in me and hired me to write, and that was a big deal when I was in my early twenties– and a big confidence builder and a big step forward to having a career. He was something… He knew what a hit song was. He could pick out a hit song! That was one of his talents. He could hear a song, and he knew if it was a hit or not.
So many things you’re involved with these days… You’ve got the Tales and Ales that you do– I mean, one of my favorite things to do is sit around and have a beer and talk music with people, and you’re getting to do it with other songwriters.
The Tales and Ales thing– to define what it is, it’s an interview show where I interview other artists, and it’s sponsored by Lagunitas beer. It’s a different thing when you interview somebody else… ‘Cause usually I’m getting interviewed, and they want me to talk about myself. But when you interview somebody, you make it all about them. I lucked out right off the bat, and I’ve gotten some great people that’s wantin’ to be on it! I believe the first one we did was John Oates from Hall and Oates. I think the one just aired was Brent Cobb. I’ve got a bunch of ’em in the can. I’ve interviewed Keb Mo, I’ve interviewed Buddy Miller, just a whole bunch of people. They’ll all be coming out. I enjoy interviewing people. I really enjoy talking to people and hearing their stories. I like to ask unusual questions… You know, I usually ask the same question, “Tell us about the new record,” which there’s nothing wrong with that, but I like to ask ‘em questions like, “How many pushups can you do?” And if they say they can do that many pushups, they gonna have to show me! (Laughs)
Tell me what the first record you ever bought with your own money was?
It was Elton John’s Greatest Hits.
What was the last one you bought with your own money?
Well, uh… The last record I bought with my own money… I ordered it on ebay, and it should be coming today. It’s Chipmunks a Go-Go. It’s a record I had when I was a kid. My mother used to work at Woolco, and she would bring records home. They’d give you these little bargain records, and she brought home this record called Chipmunks a Go-Go. It was The Chipmunks singing popular hit songs from the 60s. It was like, (singing in a Chipmunk voice) “You can always go downtown…”, and they were covering all these songs! I had that record when I was a kid– and you know, I lost it over the years. So last week, I just said, “I wonder if I can find that Chipmunks a Go-Go record on ebay,” and there it was! It was like under $5. I couldn’t believe it, you know? Apparently, the world isn’t clamoring for Chipmunks a Go-Go! I guess I’m the only one that wants it. But when I get home, it’s probably on the porch ’cause I’ve been gone to Florida for a few days with my family. So I think it’s probably gonna be on the porch– and tonight, me and my wife’ll sip some wine and listen to some Chipmunks a Go-Go.
(Laughing) You’ve given me quite the visual!
Oh, yeaaaah…