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Boxer turned musician knows the worth of a hook

The ever-unconventional Paul Thorn, headlining at Saturday's Riverhawk Music Festival, says his music is full of conflict.

By LOGAN NEILL
Published November 10, 2006

As a professional boxer, Paul Thorn learned the value of a good left hook. That helped make him the ninth-ranked middleweight fighter in 1987 and earned him a match with boxing phenomenon Roberto Duran.

Duran sent Thorn to the canvas in the second round. By the sixth round, it was all over. And for the most part, so was Thorn's boxing career.

These days, Thorn's best jabs come from his music. The slightly twisted humor of the 42-year-old son of a Pentecostal preacher has led to the creation of such tunes as Burn Down the Trailer Park; Joanie, the Jehovah Witness Stripper; and Fabio & Liberace, and has earned him a legion of dedicated followers.

"My view of the world tends to be out of the mainstream," Thorn said in his unmistakable Mississippi accent. "I tend to sympathize with people that probably don't deserve a lot of sympathy."

Thorn, who will headline Saturday at the Riverhawk Music Festival, admits his music is full of conflict. Growing up in a Tupelo, Miss., household that forbade rock and roll, dancing and just about anything else teenagers enjoy, Thorn didn't discover his muse till his late teens. Thorn credits his uncle Merle with showing him a bigger world.

"He introduced me to all kinds of music I had never really listened to before, stuff that really had a big effect on me," he said.

A former boxer, Merle began coaching his nephew at age 12. By the time he graduated from high school, Thorn had made up his mind to turn pro. He earned the 1987 mid-South middleweight title, convincing him he was ready accept an invitation the next year to face Duran.

The Duran fight left Thorn with a split lip and the inspiration to pen a song with Billy Maddox that became the title track to his 1997 A&M Records debut, Hammer and Nail.

Thorn takes pride in his self-made career, which includes a side gig as an artist. His drawings and paintings, like his music, capture his wry outlook on life.

"It's my little way of escaping," he said. "Sometimes the world just gets a little too strange."

[Last modified November 9, 2006, 22:59:01]