07.10.2019 - 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
07.09.2019 - Underscoring the severe crisis in farm country, Farm Aid’s annual music and
food festival will return to the heart of dairy country on Saturday, Sept. 21,
at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin.Tickets go on sale to
the public on Friday, July 12, at 10 a.m. CDT. Mellencamp.com pre-sale tickets go on sale Thursday, July 11, at 10 a.m. CDT.
Featuring family farmers, the good food they produce and inspiring music, Farm
Aid 2019 will include performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, John
Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds, as well as Bonnie
Raitt, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Margo Price, Jamey Johnson, Tanya
Tucker, Brothers Osborne, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Yola, and Particle
Kid. Additional artists will be announced later this summer. Read More
07.08.2019 - The 20th Annual WhyHunger Chapin Awards took place at City Winery in New York
City last evening, honoring singer-songwriter John Mellencamp with the ASCAP Harry
Chapin Humanitarian Award, which shines a spotlight on artists who have proven
their commitment to striving for social justice and creating real change in
combating hunger worldwide.
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
04.09.2019 - John Mellencamp is famous for his music: He has recorded 24 albums, including
the iconic American Fool, which features “Hurts So Good” and “Jack & Diane.” He
is also a respected artist whose paintings and other works have been exhibited
across the U.S. And so he established this intimate studio in New York City when
he started to date Meg Ryan (the two became engaged in 2018). “To live an
artist’s life, you have to create every day,” he says. “When I was there, there
was no place for me to paint, no place for me to write, so I bought this little
place.” Read this exclusive interview and view photos of the loft taken by William Abranowicz after the jump. Read More
12.20.2018 - John Mellencamp lands a No. 1 album on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart for the
first time in his career, as his new album, Other People’s Stuff, rules
the ranking dated Dec. 22.
The set debuts atop the tally with 44,000 equivalent album units earned in
the week ending Dec. 13, according to Nielsen Music. Nearly all of its sum came
via traditional album sales.
Mellencamp had previously snagged five top fives on Top Rock Albums, which
began in 2006 (many years after Mellencamp first reached the all-genre Billboard
200 chart back in 1979). Before Stuff, with three -- 2007’s Freedom Road,
2008’s Life Death Love and Freedom and most recently, 2017’s Sad Clowns &
Hillbillies reaching No. 3.
The album also represents Mellencamp’s 11th top 10 on the Billboard 200, his
first since 2010’s Nothing Better Than This and best-charting album
since Freedom 10 years prior.
Stuff features covers in its tracklist, including songs by Robert Johnson,
Jimmie Rodgers and more. Read More
On the album Mellencamp noted: “Most, if not all, of the songs on Other People’s Stuff come from The Great American Songbook. These are songs that have been recorded over the last 40 years of my career, but had never been put together as one piece of work. Now, they have.”
Read the complete press release after the jump. Read More
12.04.2018 - A true storyteller who continually contributes new insights to the Americana zeitgeist, John Mellencamp is poised to deliver a brand-new anthology, the wonderfully-titled Other People’s Stuff, Friday, December 7, 2018, via Republic Records.
Despite the nature of the anthology, Other People’s Stuff is cohesive; these are songs that fit one another perfectly, all individual pieces of the great American songbook belonging to Mr. Mellencamp. The brilliance here is in how well each track fits the others and in how flawlessly Other People’s Stuff fits into the recent Mellencamp oeuvre. Read the complete review after the jump Read More
12.04.2018 - Read Lee Zimmerman's complete Other People's Stuff review after the jump. Here is an excerpt: Clearly Mellencamp is working in a realm in which he seems well suited. Hearing him strut and swagger through opening track “To the River” offers all the evidence needed that he still has the drive and determination to convincingly make other people’s stuff feel like his own... Read More
11.14.2018 - Over the last three decades, John Mellencamp has covered a variety of musical
styles, songs and rhythms under the umbrella of heartland rock. On his newest
offering, Mellencamp digs deep into the archives of his musical experience. An
homage to some of the greatest songwriting feats in history, Other People’s
Stuff is emblematic of John Mellencamp’s storytelling ability and his
time-tested musicality. Read the complete review of Other People's Stuff after the jump. Read More
11.06.2018 - Today, John Mellencamp releases the visual for his politically driven song “Eyes On The Prize” off his forthcoming album Other People's Stuff currently available for pre order HERE! The video accompanying the song comes in time for the midterm elections. Protest songs can still make a difference. Watch “Eyes On The Prize” below.
