07.20.2021 - Farm Aid’s Annual festival a full day of music, family farmers, homegrown food and a homegrown village with agrarian experiences is returning to Hartford, Connecticut, this year live and in- person on Saturday, Sept. 25, at Xfinity Theatre. Tickets for Farm Aid 2021 go on sale to the public on Friday, July 23, at 10 a.m. EDT. Read the complete press release after the jump. Read More
07.18.2021 - Mellencamp will soon return to the studio to finish recording his 25th album. Prior to the onset of the Global Pandemic, he has already cut ten tracks and plans to record another 17 for the project.
07.18.2021 - John Mellencamp announces he's set to unveil his new live album and documentary titled The Good Samaritan Tour this summer. The documentary, which will be narrated by Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey, chronicles Mellencamp's historic free tour in 2000 when he performed on street corners and in public parks across the country. Here's a sneak preview:
07.18.2021 - At present, we are looking to tour in 2022, but that all depends on the pandemic and our ability to recover from it. Here is JM's "Small Town" recorded in Chicago, October 25, 2016 on the Plain Spoken Tour.
11.27.2020 - “Hello, Liza. This is John Mellencamp. What do you want to talk about?” It’s a cold, cloudy East Coast afternoon, and, for so many reasons, including John’s 69th birthday on Oct. 7, it’s been tough for us to connect.
“I want to talk about you,” I say.
“Boy, that’s a boring topic,” he states. Read the complete interview after the jump Read More
10.15.2020 - Farm Aid marked the 35th anniversary with a virtual at-home festival experience. Farm Aid 2020 On the Road, took place on Saturday, Sept. 26th and included performances from more than 20 artists.Watch John's performance below.
08.31.2020 - Farm Aid announced today that the organization will mark its 35th anniversary with a virtual at-home festival experience. Farm Aid 2020 On the Road, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26, from 8 PM to 11 PM. EDT, will include performances from more than 20 artists. The 3-hour event will be streamed at FarmAid.org, on Farm Aid’s YouTube channel, AXS TV and Fans.com. Read More
07.04.2020 - Amidst the national uprising against racist violence, Daveed Diggs demands we ask what the Fourth of July means to Black people in America right now.
06.18.2020 - John wrote this song 30 years ago and its message still rings true today as the lyrics are more powerful than ever. Sony/ATV Music Artist Topher Mohr made it his own, by taking a more melodic approach by breaking it down to its organic elements with a mix that heavily favors the vocals.
05.12.2020 - John Mellencamp is a rebel without a cause but not the spitfire refractory type who raises a painting palette with a clenched fist against the art establishment. He’s not a rebel who proclaims a cerebral doctrine, decrees an oppressive ideology or a proponent of some altisonant theory or authoritarian manifesto.
His rebellion is embodied in the physical phenomena, in the palpable materiality of his art. He does not pay any deferential tribute to any arching esthetic dictamina. He propounds in a serenely quiet and countervailing way that art need not subscribe to any one restrictive philosophy but can embrace expansively myriad paths and approaches to self-discovery and the realization of self-expression. Read David L. Shirey's perception of John Mellencamp after the jump. Read More
04.09.2020 - Don’t remember the supergroup the Buzzin’ Cousins? You’re not alone. Despite featuring five architects of Americana music, the collaboration remains a blind spot for most music fans, even those who may be hardcore devotees of the artists involved.
Here is an excerpt: "But it’s the Buzzin’ Cousins entry, written by Mellencamp, that stands as the centerpiece of the Falling From Grace soundtrack. “Sweet Suzanne” is an intoxicating shot of heartland jangle-rock, with all five of the artists — each in their idiosyncratic vocal style — trading lines..." Read the complete article after the jump. Read More
04.08.2020 - Losing John Prine is like losing Moses. He stood on top of the hill and he gave us words of
wisdom and truth. John Prine and I wrote songs together and made a movie together. We laughed together, and he spent many a lost weekend at my house.
John Prine’s name is written in the stars. And we should all be happy that he has left us with such wonderful songs and records, just like Moses leaving tablets, that remind us what it is to be a good person and agreat songwriter. – John Mellencamp Read More
12.11.2019 - Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp teamed up for two duets; Debbie Harry
and DMC (Darryl McDaniels) collaborated on an epic rap collaboration; and the
Eurythmics reunited for a set at Sting and Trudie Styler’s 30th annual
Rainforest Benefit at the Beacon Theater in New York City Monday night (Dec. 9).
Highlights included Mellencamp delivering a captivating acoustic
version of “Jack and Diane” before summoning Springsteen to join him for a taut
“Pink Houses.” With both men trading verses and bringing the house to its feet.
Mellencamp was particularly spry, working the crowd while Springsteen went to
work on guitar. The two later united for “Glory Days.” Read the complete review after the jump. Read More
06.12.2019 - This is a story about those people who live,
love and die on the underside of the American Dream in small towns all across
our country. This is a tale, laced with humor and visceral energy, about
star-crossed lovers, and their stubborn refusal to give up, to lie down, to let
go of the potential their youthful dreams once promised. This is also a story
about a town in free-fall, and the tough choices people make, not always in
their best interests. Book by MacArthur Fellow, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and
Obie Award winning playwright Naomi Wallace and will be directed by 3-time Tony
Award winner Kathleen Marshall, music and lyrics by John Mellencamp.
More details will be announced in the Fall. Read More
06.12.2019 - "Jack & Diane," John Mellencamp's little ditty 'bout star-crossed lovers in a
small town, has a playwright and a Tony Award winner lined up to direct and
choreograph the hit song's previously-teased transformation into a staged
musical.
Republic Records, Federal Films and Universal Music Theatricals announced on
Wednesday that a musical written by Mellencamp (music/lyrics) and Naomi Wallace
(book) is officially in development, with Kathleen Marshall, winner of three
Tonys out of nine nominations, signed on to direct and choreograph. Read More
