This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Paul Thorn was born in Tupelo, Miss., just like Elvis. His father was a revival-show preacher who put him onstage with a tambourine at age three. Since then, he’s been a factory worker, a pro boxer — he once lost to Roberto Duran on national TV — and he’s a professional artist and amateur skydiver.
With a resume like that, you can be three things: A novelist, a contestant on The Bachelor or a singer-songwriter. After listening to Mission Temple Fireworks Stand, his third album, you have to figure Thorn made the right choice. He has a throaty, hickory-smoked growl that reminds you of old John Hiatt, not to mention a nicely poetic way with a simple heartfelt lyric. Here, he puts them to damn fine use on a slate of effortlessly grooving, solidly constructed cuts that mix twangy commercial roots-pop with bumptious N’Awlins swamp, stinging slide-guitar lines and luxuriant gospel harmonies. With all that going for him, one can’t help but wonder if Thorn is about to start a new chapter in life: Roots-rock rising star.
