1/27/2024 0 Comments Paul thorn im still here![]() My dream was to do a record like that, and good or bad, that’s what I accomplished this time. Over the past years I’ve really gotten into the simplistic, less-is-more approach of artists like JJ Cale. It’s got a gigantic neck and it’s hard to play, but that’s the one I used on the other parts of the record. “Matt has an old Giannini classical gut-string guitar in the studio that sounds amazing. We wanted it to sound like the demos, and we were able to capture that. “He liked the way they sounded, so half the album was cut in the studio with that guitar and those strings. I wrote all these songs on that guitar, which has three-year-old strings, and I sent the iPhone demos to Matt, who is a fantastic producer. I don’t take it on the road anymore because I don’t want it to get damaged. How much of the album did you record with it, and what else are you using in the studio and on the road? You’ve called your Gibson Hummingbird your favorite guitar. I would never claim to be close to somebody like him, but the Kris Kristoffersons and John Prines of the world, that’s what you shoot for.” “‘As I sit here alone in my cabin, I can see your mansion on the hill’ – that’s a simple little phrase, but it says so much. His name gets thrown out there a lot, but there’s a reason for it. One of my favorite songwriters is Hank Williams. I just have to figure out how to make lyrics out of it. “I’m a visual artist as well as a musician, so yeah, it’s definitely in my head. Is songwriting visual for you? The pictures you create with words – the claw-foot tub and pickled pig feet in You Mess Around & Get a Buzz, the Country Crock bowl in Sapalo, and of course the 800 Pound Jesus – we can see those things when we listen to your music. ![]() When she passed, I wrote the song in honor of her memory.” More than once I would apologize for calling so late and she’d say, ‘Don’t worry it’s never too late to call.’ And that stuck. Every night after shows, I would be wired and couldn’t sleep, but I could always call her because she would be awake. “I wrote It’s Never Too Late to Call after Deborah died of cancer. “I said, ‘I want you to sing this with me on the record.’ After 22 years of marriage we’ve lived that song, and I think anyone who has been in any kind of relationship can relate. But when I wrote Breaking Up for Good Again, which is about two people who love each other, but at the same time have bumps in the road and sometimes even need time apart, I was sitting on the couch with an acoustic guitar, and as it was coming together, I would hear her in the kitchen singing harmony with me and it sounded amazing. “My wife also grew up singing in church, but she’s not a professional singer. But life is what gives you songs, and things that happened in my family gave me these songs. This might sound corny, but I believe in God, and I believe that God gives you life. ![]() I think that’s a good way to describe it. “I’ve never called it a family album, but I’m cool with that. Is it accurate to say that Never Too Late To Call is in some ways a family album? Your wife joins you on Breaking Up for Good Again, your daughter Kitty joins you on Sapphire Dream, and your sister Deborah is with you in spirit on the title song. I was sitting on the couch with an acoustic guitar, and as it was coming together, I would hear my wife in the kitchen singing harmony with me and it sounded amazing I’m very happy with what’s been accomplished so far.” Today, at the age of 57, I’m not a household name, but I have a very loyal following that has supported me all this time and it’s been great. People didn’t come to see me, but some of them liked me, and so when we got our independent label going, we went back to those same towns, and some of those same people came back to see us. “When I had my A&M deal, I got to go on tour opening for Sting, Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck, and Toby Keith. I may be wrong, but I think we might be the first true independent Americana label, because we pressed our own CDs. “What was good, though, is that when my deal with A&M was done, my songwriting partner and manager, Billy Maddox, and I decided to start our own record company, and as a joke we called it Perpetual Obscurity Records. I got signed to a major record label, but like most deals, nothing came of it much. He’s had a lot of good things happen and a few bad things too. When you look at your career, who was the young man who recorded Hammer & Nail, and who is he now?
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