Today, Southern singer-songwriter Paul Thorn shared his new single “Geraldine & Ricky,” the latest preview from his upcoming album Life Is Just A Vapor, out on February 21 via Thirty Tigers. Like many tracks on the album, “Geraldine & Ricky” is based on a true story. Geraldine was a traveling evangelist who couldn’t connect with children until she tried ventriloquism. When she spread the lord’s word through Ricky, the dummy, kids were mesmerized, including a 5-year-old Thorn, who requested, and got, a ventriloquist doll for Christmas. “I would get up and tell jokes at church, and I’d take it to school and tell jokes at school,” Thorn says. “I had made up my mind that when I grew up, I was going to be a ventriloquist.”
Over a snaky rhythm enhanced by guest guitarist Luther Dickinson, Thorn fictitiously paints Geraldine as “a toxic opportunist looking for anything that will better her situation.” When she lands a dying old sugar daddy, she dumps Ricky. But karma catches up to Geraldine, while Ricky, thankfully, gets rescued. The release of the single is also accompanied by an eye-catching animated music video further bringing the story of “Geraldine & Ricky” to life.
“Geraldine & Ricky” follows the release of the soulful, bluesy lead single “Tough Times Don’t Last,” a resilient track offering words of support and encouragement meant to uplift the listener, especially in times of struggle.
Life Is Just A Vapor is an outspoken account of the life lessons Thorn has experienced throughout his unique and extensive career, and a reflection of his 6 decades on this planet. Whether he’s expressing love, warning an ex’s new conquest about the dangers ahead, extolling the value of holding off on sex, or listing the ingredients for making a marriage work, Thorn delivers his messages with consummate skill — and pinpoint precision. One minute, he’ll unwind an outrageous tale full of wild characters (often accompanied by his own cartoonish illustrations); the next, he’ll tug at heartstrings with confessions of love, loss or failed dreams, balancing wit and pathos with an ease only the best storytellers can pull off. One of Thorn’s favorites was his friend and mentor John Prine, who inspired the title tune. “I’m just trying to put out a good body of work that will be remembered like John’s music,” Thorn admits. “I’m trying to carry on his tradition, to keep it alive.”
Thorn has earned wide-spread acclaim throughout his career from the likes of Rolling Stone who said, “Thorn knows a thing or two about shaking it onstage. Much like Elvis Presley, Thorn has distinguished himself early on in his career with a live-performance energy that has enraptured audiences.” NPR called Thorn “a natural-born Southern storyteller with humble stage banter and musical delivery that’s gritty and gruff,” while Guitar World exclaimed that his storytelling is “sometimes heartbreaking, other times exuberant, at all times universal.”
“I like for people to be touched by music and get something from it, something that they can take with them throughout the day,” Thorn says. “Every song on this album, there’s a message in it of some sort about how to live life.”
In support of the new album, Thorn and the Paul Thorn Band will be hitting the road this Spring for a tour including stops in Columbus, Pittsburg, Richmond, Arlington, Ann Arbor and many more.
Tour Dates:
January 25 – Tybee Island, GA @ Tybee Post Theater
February 21 – Nashville, TN @ 3rd and Lindsley
February 22 – Nashville, TN @ 3rd and Lindsley
March 1 – Columbus, MS @ Cromwell Theatre at MUW (5pm & 8pm shows)
March 20 – Floyds Knobs, IN @ Woods of Lafayette Clubhouse (solo acoustic)
March 21 – Floyds Knobs, IN @ Woods of Lafayette Clubhouse (solo acoustic)
March 22 – Columbus, OH @ Athenaeum Theatre
March 23 – Pittsburgh, PA @ City Winery
March 24 – Sellersville, PA @ Sellersville Theater
March 26 – Columbia, MD @ The Collective Encore
March 27 – Richmond, VA @ The Tin Pan
March 28 – Elkin, NC @ Reeves Theater
March 29 – Shelby, NC @ Don Gibson Theatre
April 5 – Helena, AL @ Helena Amphitheater
April 10 – Arlington, TX @ Arlington Music Hall
April 11 – Jefferson, TX @ 1852 on Austin (solo acoustic)
April 12 – The Woodlands, TX @ Dosey Doe Big Barn
April 13 – Cedar Park, TX @ Haute Spot
May 4 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
May 9 – Green Lake, WI @ Thrasher Opera House
May 10 – Green Lake, WI @ Thrasher Opera House
June 21 – Maryville, TN @ The Shed
