GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- Wind up before a judge and you probably aren’t having a very good day. But this Gwinnett County judge is a little different than the rest.
Every week, Michael Thorpe puts on a robe and greets a captive audience.
“Good morning, I’m Judge Thorpe.”
The Gwinnett County magistrate judge has another side few people have seen. He’s a singing judge, merging a concert with the courtroom.
“This is the intro to a song I wrote based on what I do in this very courtroom,” Thorpe said before he played for Channel 2′s Tony Thomas.
Thorpe just cut a CD in Nashville. One of his songs, “Broken People,” is based on what he sees from the bench.
“It’s actually kind of helped me think about these folks and deal with them a little differently,” Thorpe said.
Thorpe is 67 and just learned how to play guitar last year. He has now done two Nashville recordings and isn’t finished yet.
“I’ve got six or seven new songs in the works from stuff that happened up here," Thorpe said.
Thorpe said if you ever had the misfortune of being in his courtroom and see him typing something on his phone that he’s not texting.
He told Thomas it’s likely somebody just mentioned something that might inspire a good lyric. He wants to remember it.
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