Having partnered up with BaconFest for a two-day event last year, this weekend’s edition of the Monterey Americana Festival will return to a single-day format, headlined by one of the superstars of the genre, Paul Thorn.
This has organizer Dan Miller anticipating a big day: “I think we have one of our strongest lineups ever in terms of sheer artistry,” says Miller, who also books BaconFest artists. “So this year we decided it could stand on its own and we could focus on the great music.”
Thorn, raised by a Pentecostal preacher in the Deep South, calls himself “the second most famous singer from Tupelo, Mississippi.” (The first would be a guy named Elvis Presley.)
Thorn took a rather circuitous route to music, making stops first as a furniture maker, then as a skydiver, and he even did a stint as a pro boxer. He is now touring in support of his 2014 album Too Blessed To Be Stressed. “In the past, I’ve told stories that were mostly inspired by my own life,” Thorn says. “This time, I’ve written 10 songs that express more universal truths, and I’ve done it with a purpose: to make people feel good.”
Thorn displays a peculiar penchant for irreverent song titles and lyrics which exude humor, like “I Don’t Like Half The People I Love” or “Joanie the Jehovah’s Witness Stripper.” It’s witty, heartfelt stuff with a crackerjack band behind him and an infectiously charismatic stage presence akin to that of an old-time Gospel revivalist.
The musical genre known as Americana first emerged as a radio format in the 1990s, mixing country, rock, gospel and blues into a musical stew, building from the same foundation that created early rock ‘n’ roll decades before. A Grammy for Best Americana Album was created in 2010, and the category has gone on to become one of the biggest buzz genres going, racking up substantial sales and massive crossover appeal.
The day-long event features four other acts: Americana stalwart Jim Lauderdale, roots rockers The Americans, and the alt-country band The Mastersons, along with a tribute to early 1966 Bob Dylan by ace local singer-guitarist Tom Ayres to open the show.
MONTEREY AMERICANA FESTIVAL 11:30am-7pm (gates 11am) Saturday, July 23. Monterey Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairground Road, Monterey. $30/advance, $40/gate. 915-8044, montereyamericanafestival@gmail.com
(1) comment
[beam] Giving credit where credit is certainly due; that "1990's" Americana radio format mentioned in the article was largely created by Laura Ellen Hopper of Gilroy's KFAT and later Freedom's KPIG. She passed suddenly in 2007 and is still much missed. Chris Kenney
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