Paul Thorn at The Walker Theater in Chattanooga, TN (February 28th)
On Saturday Night (February 28th) I drove up to Chattanooga to catch up with Paul Thorn and his band at The Walker Theater. I hadn’t seen him since 2021 when he did a track for my tribute album for Wilson Pickett at Wishbone Studios in Muscle Shoals. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Paul in the studio that day- he was telling stories about his days as a professional boxer, most notably when he fought Roberto Duran. He also told some great jokes that day and we talked about TV Shows that we loved from the ‘70s- mainly “Sanford And Son” and “Good Times”.
Paul is always smiling, always laughing and exhibits a positive attitude no matter what comes his way. He and the band opened with “Tough Times Don’t Last” that night which is from his 2025 album Life Is Just A Vapor. The band consists of Paul playing rhythm guitar on his Telecaster and Acoustic, Chris Simmons on lead guitar, Michael Graham aka “Dr Love” on keyboards, Scott Esbeck on bass, and Jeffrey Perkins on drums.
Simmons played some of the best slide guitar I’ve ever heard. I could hear the Allman Brothers Band/Derek Trucks influence in his playing and he told me a few days later that he went to Derek Truck’s show at Brother’s Bar in Jacksonville in the mid ‘90s. He said he stood right in front of him and picked up some of his technique. He said he also learned a lot from Paul’s former lead guitarist Bill Hinds, another great slide player. I saw Bill playing guitar with Paul when I first met them at “The Rumble on Noble” in Anniston, Al in 2012.
“Pimp’s And Preachers,” the title track from Paul’s 2010 album, was also great and featured some great Organ parts by Graham on that. Esbeck, who primarily played a Black Fender Precision for most of the show, broke out a Jerry Jones 4 String to play the upper register bass part with a pick. Simmons had a nice arsenal of guitars for the show- a couple of SGs, A Les Paul Gold Top, and a couple of Fender Telecasters.
Paul also told the story about the song “Chicken Wing,” which is also from the album Life Is Just A Vapor– that was a friend of his uncle’s Pimp name. He also added that the man once known as “Chicken Wing” now worked as a Wal Mart Greeter. The song is an upbeat song reminiscent of Little Feat and Bonnie Raitt with some killer slide guitar parts.
Paul and the band also did “I Don’t Like Half The Folks I Love,” also from the Pimps And Preachers album, which featured some great electric piano from Graham and great slide work from Simmons on his SG. Jeffrey Perkins is a fantastic drummer and he did a great job of anchoring the band all night.
Paul prefaced “Ain’t Gonna Beg” from his 1999 album Ain’t Love Strange with the story of his breakup with his girlfriend at that time and offered candid details. The song is a classic 12/8 Blues with a classic Allman Brothers vibe that featured more great slide guitar, and B3 style organ parts.
Paul told of the time he got to do a show with John Prine and having the good fortune to eat ice cream with him before they launched into “Life Is Just A Vapor.” The song is really mellow and has a kind of “Into The Mystic” vibe and was inspired by the Bible verse, James 4:14 ,which states that our life here on Earth is brief and temporary and that we should try to enjoy every minute of the lives wea are given. Once it’s gone, it’s gone like a cloud disappearing forever.
“Misson Temple Fireworks Stand,” the title track from the 2002 album, has always been my favorite- it reminds me of the scene in “The Blues Brothers” movie with James Brown and the Gospel Squire. The song was written by Paul and his songwriting partner/manager Billy Maddux, and it featured some great Gospel/R&B piano from Graham.
To a great extent, Paul’s shows are like being at a Church Revival Service or a Tent Revival meeting, especially when he goes out into the crowd shaking hands and dancing with people, and hugging them. You can tell that Paul really likes being around people and interacting with them and he also takes time to pose for pictures and sign autographs with fans at the Merchandise Table after his shows, which many artists won’t do.
Things got really funky when Paul and the band did the title track from the aforementioned “Ain’t Love Strange.” Graham dialed up a greasy Clavinet setting on his Nord keyboard and the bass was poppin’. The song conveys many scenarios- a man who can’t get a girlfriend who spends all his money at a strip club, two Newlyweds after the new has worn off of their love throwing dishes and fighting all night, being arrested and hauled off in different police cars, two people who made an appearance of “The Jerry Springer Show,” and two roosters in a barnyard both trying to capture the affection of a hen. Paul recited his monologue at the end “God and Mama will love you unconditionally, your woman will love you if you are faithful, your dog will love you if you throw him a bone, the devil will love you if you sin, you’re children will love you if you buy them some candy, and I will love you if you put on that Blue and White Polka Dot mini-skirt, with Black Stiletto heels, and just let me sit back and watch you do a conservative dance to this little groove I’ve got goin’.”
Paul closed out the show with his rocking “Take My Love With You” which featured the rhythm guitar playing a nice boogie beat and some wonderful organ and piano parts. That one had people dancing in the aisles and ended the show on a high note.
I highly recommend Paul’s shows. That was my 3rd one and I’m already looking forward to the next one. He was co-headlining with Tab Benoit, whose show I unfortunately missed.
Find tour dates here: http://www.paulthorn.com/tour
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Paul Thorn “Life is Just a Vapor”