Elvis Presley was known for taking Frank Sinatra’s standard “My Way,” and making it one of his concert staples. Fellow Tupelo, Mississipi, native Paul Thorn doesn’t sing the song, but he’s put his music career together his way and he refuses to give up his independence.

Thorn has recently made some strides in recognition with radio and magazine interviews coming more often since the 2008 release of A Long Way to Tupelo. Many people think Thorn is a newcomer, but the 44-year-old has nine CDs to his credit. Thorn’s success is built on storytelling, a unique voice, and lots of tenacity.

Speaking via phone while on vacation in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Thorn wasn’t happy about the constant rain on his family beach trip, but he was quite upbeat about his career. “Every single year it’s gotten just a little bit bigger,” Thorn said of his success. Each album sells more than the one before and that’s encouraging. I’m enjoying it.”

Thorn said that his music career is hard work, but he relishes the process of bringing in new fans. “When you’re an underground artist, you have to build an audience,” Thorn said. “You might only have 15 people at the show your first time in a city, but maybe the next time there will be 100. Each time you hope those people will come back and they’ll bring somebody.”

Thorn brings his mix of rock, blues, country, and gospel influences to the Kirk Avenue Music Hall in Roanoke Tuesday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m. Thorn, who sings lead and plays guitar, is part of a five-piece touring band that is embarking on an extensive tour with Roanoke being one of the first shows, which range in scale from the Chicken and Egg Festival in Moulton, Alabama, to three dates with Bonnie Raitt in Austin, San Antonio, and Houston, Texas.

Just as Raitt struggled for years in her early career to find commercial success, Thorn’s acceptance by the mainstream has been elusive. While Raitt eventually did find acceptance, Thorn said that the reality is the he doesn’t ever see himself being accepted into mainstream music.

“I don’t pursue it,” Thorn said with his familiar Southern accent. “I’ve had major labels offer me. The thing is, once you accept, they tell you what songs to sing, what clothes to wear. You cease being an artist; you might as well be a factory employee. And before you know it you sound like everyone else.”

Thorn said that the people he connects with will probably stay with him for life. In that respect, he patterns his career John Prine.

“John Prine is just a fantastic person,” Thorn said. “I’ve had the honor to play some shows with him and get to know him pretty well. You can put his name on any marquee anywhere in the country and 2,000 people will show up. In the long run, to me, that has more value. He has a very high level of integrity; he’s a true artist.” Thorn said that’s what he is aiming for in his own career in music.

Thorn brings a lot of grit to his storytelling. After all, at one time he was the No. 9-ranked middleweight boxer in the world, with his biggest fight coming against Roberto Duran. Thorn lost. But he takes that toughness and combines it with classic Southern storytelling. He mixes it with the gospel music that he was immersed in (“I grew up singin’ in church my whole life,” he said) and shakes it up with the rock and blues that he later came to love.

“I grew up singin’ in churches where it was mostly white people,” Thorn said. “But I would go to revivals at black churches and heard a different style. I came to appreciate different kinds of music. As I started to listen to other types of music and got out on my own, I got a broader understanding of what the world is. I’ve also been on the other side of the tracks, so to speak. Sometimes you get more from a drunk than a preacher.”

Songwriting is something that Thorn is proud of and enjoys. “Everything I sing, I wrote,” he said. “Without my songs, I’m an American Idol contestant. And that’s not something I want to be.”

He keeps a busy touring schedule and said the only thing really grueling about the music business is not the touring itself but being away from his wife and two daughters. And Thorn rolls into Roanoke Tuesday night for his gig at Kirk Avenue Music Hall.

“Their gonna obviously hear my original songs,” Thorn said of his Roanoke show. “I like to talk to the crowd and have a good time. I usually stick around sign CDs and shake hands. I’m real approachable. I like to meet people. And I like to make people feel good. That’s part of being a minister’s son.

And as a preacher’s son, Thorn said he’d use a “preacher tactic” to get people come out to the show. “Tell them that if they hear about me coming and don’t show up, they’re going to hell,” Thorn said with a chuckle.

Tim W. Jackson grew up in Russellville, Alabama, about an hour and a half from Paul Thorn in Tupelo, Mississippi.