Before establishing himself as a purveyor of muscular American roots music, Tupelo, Mississippi’s Paul Thorn lived several other lives. The son of a Pentecostal preacher, he was a champion prizefighter in the 1980s who fought Roberto Duran, a professional skydiver, and a factory worker. Since releasing 1997’s Hammer & Nail for A&M, Thorn has balanced blues, rock, gospel, country, and soul in a singular strain of Americana with songs that embrace the human condition with their humor, irony, pathos, tenderness, heartbreak, grief, anger, and joy. Thorn possesses a singing voice that is equal parts gravel and honey. He is also an exhibiting painter. 2002’s Mission Temple Fireworks Stand garnered his first international exposure. His breakthrough was 2010’s charting Pimps & Preachers. 2014’s Too Blessed to Be Stressed offered what he called “positive anthem songs” and simultaneously placed on rock, indie, and Christian album charts. 2018’s Don’t Let the Devil Ride featured several gospel songs that inspired him while growing up. It included guest spots by the Blind Boys of Alabama, the McCrary Sisters, Bonnie Bishop, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. It peaked at number one the Blues Albums Chart. In August 2021 Thorn released Never Too Late to Call, a collection of organic demos built into songs with producer Matt Ross-Spang.

Thorn was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the son of a Pentecostal minister. His family moved to Tupelo when he was an infant. He spent his youth and adolescence singing in church and traveling with his dad to revivals. He picked up the guitar, organ, and piano along the way. The other big influence in his life was his father’s brother, a pimp. He claims to have learned about the light and dark sides of life from each.