Paul Thorn Takes Inspiration From Mentor, John Prine On Guest Filled (Bonamassa, Dickinson) ‘Life Is Just A Vapor’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

John Prine was able to craft strong messages in rather constructed songs. Although singer-songwriter Paul Thorn carries Prine’s torch, let’s not yet crown him Prine’s successor. Prine stands alone, and Thorn would be way too humble to consider such. But let’s credit him for absorbing Prine’s inspiration and delivering messages in his singular fashion. Thorn claims that every song on Life Is a Vapor has a message about how to live life. These are well-crafted songs with Thorn’s wit and casual but absolute honesty. There are few, if any, wasted words and infectious grooves.

Thorn wrote some songs alone; others were written by co-writers Chuck Cannon, Scotty Brassfield, Denny Carr, or manager /collaborator/producer Billy Maddox. Select tracks are imbued with guests such as Luther Dickinson, Joe Bonamassa, the Tupelo gospel group New Testament, and Muscle Shoals singers Cindy Richardson and Marie Lewey (aka the Shoal Sisters). Multi-instrumentalists Bill Hinds and Michael Graham contribute mightily.

Snappy opener “Tough Times Don’t Last”  an upbeat song with an encouraging message as Thorn sings over church-like organ, horns,  and backgrounds – “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.”On “Courage My Love,” the male recites a litany to his wife on what it will take to make the marriage work. These are not the items you may list, but Thorn paints quite a picture in just a few words. –”a half-acre on your daddy’s land/and a little luck/a load of white gravel in our driveway/so we don’t get stuck in a rut/a 3-horsepower lawnmower and courage my love.”

He flat-out expresses love unpretentiously in “I Knew” and then shares hard-earned wisdom in warning an ex’s new lover about the dangers he should expect. He even goes so far as to suggest holding off on sex in “Wait,” referencing Tinder and a guy who buys his date’s dinner with a two-for-$20 coupon.  In his sly way, Thorn offers his succinct advice to be satisfied with getting just to ‘second base.’ There’s also a song with an analogy that probably only Thorn would make, comparing the addiction of love to that of a cigarette in “I Love You Like a Cigarette.” In the funky tune, “I’m Just Waiting,” Thorn shows his serious side about relationship insecurity, backed by the ubiquitous Bonamassa.

The title track is adapted from scripture and begins referencing his hero – “Me and John Prine was eating ice cream/At the Double Tree Inn suite 1019/Don’t tell Fiona she won’t understand/Life is a vapor/ Let’s live it while we can” Although the verses get more universal from there, Thorn explains that he was invited by Prine to share ice cream. Fiona is Prine’s wife who would be most unhappy considering Prine was a diabetic. While that one’s loosely about mortality, the closing song is a clincher, played to a loping beat punctuated by dobro, “Old Melodies,” the perfect singalong with words of comfort and encouragement – Old melodies bring back precious memories/We used to say we’ve only just begun/Amazing Grace used to be our favorite song/But now it’s We Shall Overcome.”