Meet the Thorns

"We’re The Thorns," Matthew Sweet tells the crowd of assembled radio programmers and various music industry folks at an out-of-the-way resort on Hawaii’s Kohala Coast. It’s early evening on Thursday, Feb. 13, and Sweet is introducing a new trio who, individually, are already quite well-known. Sweet, Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge come equipped with a resume that features, between them, 15 albums—including one gold-seller (Sweet’s Girlfriend), and one platinum (Mullins’ Soul’s Core)—and one of those songs that was absolutely everywhere back in 1998 (Mullins’ "Lullaby"). The introduction as The Thorns is particularly appropriate given that this is the very first time anyone outside of the group’s immediate circle is seeing them perform.

"We’re The Thorns," says Droge a couple of songs later, idly mentioning it as Sweet retunes. The Thorns began with Droge and Mullins in January of last year, and quickly grew to include a couple of other singer-songwriters. That combination didn’t pan out, but it did produce "No Blue Sky," one of the standout tracks on The Thorns’ exceptional self-titled debut. Then, last spring, Matthew Sweet got involved. "Matthew tried it and it was magic," proclaims Gregg Latterman, who heads up Aware Records, home to The Thorns.

"We’re The Thorns," Droge says again wryly before one of the last songs in their all-acoustic set. The crowd chuckles as intended and it’s clear that The Thorns have successfully introduced themselves.

"I think it went pretty well," Droge allows at breakfast the next morning in a discussion about their show.

"It was difficult for me to hear anything, actually," Mullins mentions. "I just had to concentrate on singing on-key. It was a little risky." The blonde multi-instrumentalist sets up on stage with Sweet to his right and Droge to his left, and what Mullins couldn’t hear through his monitors, the crowd fully absorbed: Three voices, singing as one (Mullins’ being the deepest, with Droge in the middle and Sweet handling the higher notes), melodies that feel like you’ve known them all your life and taut, interlaced harmonies. On this night, The Thorns skillfully deliver a handful of bright, beautiful brand-new tunes.

"None of us wanted it to become the showcase for our greatest hits," says Sweet. "We really wanted to stick to the music we did together, and I think because of that we were all kind of nervous, but it went pretty well. People seemed to really react to it."

One of those who reacted was Dona Shaieb, who programs KPRI, an adult album alternative radio station in San Diego. "I loved them," she says. "The vocals are fresh and tight, sounding like [Crosby, Stills & Nash] with a touch of The Beach Boys. Our listeners are going to love it."