There’s always been a healthy hint of gospel in Paul Thorn’s signature brand of roots-rock, but earlier this year, the Tupelo area native released his first true gospel album, “Don’t Let the Devil Ride.” The recording journey was filmed by Mississippi Public Broadcasting for a documentary that will air Monday at 8 p.m. on MPB Television.
“Paul Thorn: The Making Of … ” includes recording sessions in 2017 at Sam Phillips Studio in Memphis, Tennessee; FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Preservation Hall in New Orleans; and back to Tupelo. Some powerful guests make appearances: The Blind Boys of Alabama, the McCrary Sisters, Bonnie Bishop and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band horn section.
Immediately after the album documentary, MPB presents the concert “Paul Thorn’s Mission Temple Fireworks Revival” from Franklin, Tennessee, at 8:30 p.m.
“To capture such an exclusive experience in recording a record at these legendary studios with such amazing artists was more than appealing to MPB Television,” said MPB’s Taiwo Gaynor, producer of the shows, in an article posted on mpbonline.org April 25. “This is not your typical gospel record. The music has a rich dose of raw grittiness, which is inspired from the rhythm and blues era of gospel music.”
Thorn devotees know the songwriter grew up the son of a Pentecostal preacher. His recordings for the past two decades have been secular, but Thorn always had it in the back of his mind to do a gospel record.
“It’s an homage to my upbringing ’cause when I was growing up, I sang gospel music. We didn’t have rock ‘n’ roll records in our house, we had gospel records. Going to church, singing with the black people, singing with the white people, I learned how to play music. And it’s in my heart. It’s from my beginning. It’s my roots. It’s my foundation, and it had to be done.”
The new 14-track album pays tribute to lesser-known gospel songs Thorn hopes will offer uplift during turbulent times. The “Mission Temple Fireworks Revival” concert features 12 of the 14 songs from the album that reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts, according to MPB.
Concerts in the Golden Triangle at venues including Market Street Festival and the Columbus Arts Council helped Thorn amass a legion of area fans early in his career. Stewart Stafford of Columbus is among them.
“He’s one of my favorite artists,” said Stafford who has seen Thorn perform throughout the Southeast. “I can’t think of anybody more deserving of some widespread exposure. He’s a nice guy, too; what you see is what you get.”
The new album, Thorn told MPB, is “like a dream come true as far as everything that came together for this gospel record. It’s really a thrill because my mom and dad are getting old, and they’ve heard a copy of it, and they like it. And that makes them happy when they listen to it. It’s just something that had to be done, and it got done. Praise the Lord, it’s here.”
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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