Album Review- Paul Cauthen’s “Book Of Paul”

Classic Country (#510.1), Country-Inspired Americana (#570.2) on the Country DDS.

With his barrel-chested and billowy voice, and larger-than-life stage persona, Paul Cauthen has earned himself a strong flock of disciples that makes him one of the premier setup men and headliner club draws on the independent country circuit. With songs like “Cocaine Country Dancing” and “Country As F–k,” he’s also enraged and confounded large swaths of independent country fans who otherwise would be singing his praises. “Polarizing” is a great way to present Paul Cauthen’s music, to say the least.

With his new album Book Of Paul, Cauthen serves up yet another song that has some perplexed if it’s meant to be serious or parody with the silly and somewhat disastrous “Texas Swagger.” He also delivers what might be the best overall album of his entire career, and one where he shows the kind of growth, maturity, and depth that we’ve all known Paul Cauthen is capable of, and have wanted from him. This is the reason Cauthen is worth criticizing as opposed to simply casting off entirely like the worst cretins of radio country.

Paul Cauthen opens up the books, and finds a much more honest version of himself in the first album he’s released since a few very serious episodes in his life. The first was in May of 2023 when Cauthen was the subject of a drug bust on his tour bus. All kinds of illicit substances were found by police, including marijuana, prescription pills, cocaine, and most alarming, a substance that tested positive for heroin. Cauthen fessed up to most of the drugs (not the cocaine and heroin), helping to exonerate any of his band and crew in the process.

Then in early 2025, Cauthen was diagnosed with papillary thyroid Cancer, which he’s treating with alternative methods. Then late in 2025, he announced he’s expecting his first child. Any three of these events could precipitate a change in perspective on anyone’s life. All three combined are probably what inspired Paul to write his book now while he still has the opportunity to.

Cauthen still has a constituency that craves the sort of California-influenced country noir for the cocaine cowboy and anorexia crowd. That’s the excuse for a song like “Texas Swagger.” But even among that genre of Paul Cauthen songs, it’s a bad one with the banshee shrieks of “Yee-haw all night long” constituting a production decision very easy to second guess.

But placing aside that particular song, Cauthen impresses with nearly every page turn on Book of Paul, both with the level of writing, and the Cash-inspired classic country styling, punctuated with a more contemporary perspective. It also helps that Cauthen solicits numerous co-writers on each track to really up his game on the album.

A devout Christian, Cauthen has always presented like one of the Christian kids in your high school full of Christ love and the most expensive designer drugs accessible in your suburb that never seem to get in trouble. But instead of leaning into that id side of his extravagant persona, he presents a more honest, open book approach on this album. “I’m dancing with the devil, with a Bible in my hand,” Cauthen sings in the opening, title track.

“Tossing Back Time” with Jake Worthington presents two of the best singing voices in throwback country at the moment on a song that just tries to set a laid back mood as opposed to taking itself too seriously like some Cauthen songs can. “Blue Denim & Black Gold” finds Cauthen leaning deep into an involved character study for a song. “Dark Horse” is inspiring with its message of self-reliance and perseverance.

The truth is that even before Cauthen got caught up into the whole country disco side of his music, often his writing was a little thin, relying on repetitive choruses as opposed to involved verse, with exceptions of course. “Bayou By You” is a very simple song. But so are a lot of country songs that just work, like “Bayou By You” does. And even when the writing is a bit elementary, the music rarely is. Book of Paul is both imaginative and innovative, while also still remaining deftly aligned with the boundaries of classic country.

There are some Cauthen Stans who are stupefied that some traditional country fans don’t care for the programmed beats in some of Paul Cauthen’s previous efforts and his songs like “F–k You Money.” These are same folks who think it’s scandalous that people might not like Sturgill Simpson’s new funk songs about his penis.

Meanwhile, those who’ve soured on Paul Cauthen due to his ostentatious displays and over-the-top songs are unlikely to give this album even a passing sniff. They’ve heard and seen enough of this guy, with a song like “Texas Swagger” only steeling their bias. The song does hold the album back, but it’s just one chapter in a 13-chapter book that tells the story of the real Paul Cauthen better than his recent releases.

8/10

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Stream/Purchase Book of Paul