Paul Thorn On Mountain Stage

Raised by a fundamentalist preacher father in Tupelo, Miss., Paul Thorn has legitimate claim to being second only to Elvis as Tupelo's most famous son.

A strict upbringing didn't allow much secular music in Thorn's life, so he would visit the houses of friends' and listen to secular music and comedy albums that forbidden in his parents' home.

After moving away from home, Paul brought in income through working in a furniture factory, playing small shows throughout Tupelo and boxing professionally.

Since his first appearance on Mountain Stage in 1997, Thorn has released nine albums, including his latest release, Don't Let The Devil Ride. In this performance recorded in Charleston, WV in the fall of 2017, Thorn embraces his Mississippi gospel roots. Accompanied by the Mission Temple Fireworks Revival, which includes Thorn's longtime road band and Nashville-based gospel singers The McCrary Sisters, Thorn runs through songs new and old. The set includes Thorn's version of "Love Train," the Gamble and Huff composition made popular in the early 1970's by The O'Jays which is on Don't Let The Devil Ride.

Thorn's the Mission Temple Fireworks Revival takes its name from the final number in this set, an outrageous story song about a man "with a bible and a sparkler in his hand. He was holding a tent revival, and runnin' a fireworks stand."

Don't Let the Devil Ride is available now, and Paul Thorn and his band are on tour in the U.S. through late September.

SET LIST

• "I'll Soon Be Done"
• "Don't Let the Devil Ride"
• "Let It Go"
• "The Half Has Never Been Told"
• "Love Train"
• "Mission Temple Fireworks Stand"

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