Paul Thorn Moves In From the Edge of the Radar

GAC Music Beat

By Ronna Rubin

Singer-songwriter-painter-boxer Paul Thorn has just released "So Far, So Good," a live CD that includes a bonus documentary on his boxing career.

Feb. 19, 2007 — He's shared a concert bill with folks like Sting and Mark Knopfler, had songs recorded by the likes of Toby Keith, Jerry Jeff Walker and Sawyer Brown and fought '80s boxing star Roberto Duran on national television. But odds are you've never heard of singer, songwriter, painter and boxer Paul Thorn.

"I call myself the most famous guy you've never heard of," Thorn tells GAC's Kylie Harris during his appearance on The Edge of Country at 1 pm ET, Feb. 24. "I've gotten to do all of these amazing things and yet it's pretty much on the edge of the radar."

Thorn has just released "So Far, So Good," a live CD that includes a bonus documentary on his boxing career. "People like to see me bleed; it's a must-see!" he jokes.

Growing up in Tupelo, Miss., as the son of a Church of God minister helped prepare Thorn for life in front of an audience. "I grew up singing in church since I was 3," he says. "All that early stuff gave me a real comfort on stage. It's just normal for me to be in front of people. I learned from my father when he was preaching the pulpit that when you go on stage what you're doing is not for you, it's for them."

Thorn was pretty much minding his own business, working in a chair factory when a broken heart changed things. "My musical career actually started after a breakup with a woman. After she left me, like a lot of lonely people I started hanging out in bars with other lonely people and someone asked me to get up and sing. So I did.

"It just sort of snowballed from there. I was discovered singing in a pizza restaurant by (rock manager) Miles Copeland." His debut LP, "Hammer & Nail," was released on the A & M label in 1997, the same year the label folded. A second release on Copeland's boutique label, Ark 21, followed. As did tour dates with Sting.

"Growing up, we were not allowed to go to secular concerts, so the first one I went to I was opening for Sting," Thorn says.

After releasing two LPs, Thorn and a partner opened the indie label, Perpetual Obscurity Records. "We've put out about seven records and it's doing really well. What I like about being in the Americana music world is that you don't have to be young and pretty. You just have to have a quality product you're trying to sell."

Thorn also is an accomplished painter, and many of his works are sold on his website, www.paulthorn.com.

Touring dates for Paul Thorn:

April 20, Blessing of the Fleets, Darien, Ga.

April 27, The Ark, Ann Arbor, Mich.

May 11, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, Fla.

May 12, Cuban Club, Tampa, Fla.

June 17, Stern Grove Festival, San Francisco

Aug. 11, Fire on the Mountain, Sonora, Calif.

Aug. 14, Monterey County Fair, Monterey, Calif.

Aug. 31, Wildwood Springs Lodge, Steelville, Mo.

(Ronna Rubin, a 21-year veteran of the music industry, can be contacted at ronna@gacmusicbeat.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)