Mellencamp and Green's final collaboration was "Yours Forever", a song that was included on the soundtrack to the 2000 movie, The Perfect Storm. ', "JOHN MELLENCAMP'S 'PLAIN SPOKEN' CONCERT FILM HEADED TO NETFLIX", John Mellencamp Debuts at No. He's young, and he grew up listening to Grand Funk Railroad. In October 2002, Mellencamp performed the Robert Johnson song "Stones in My Passway" at two benefit concerts for his friend, Billboard magazine editor-in-chief Timothy White, who died from a heart attack in 2002. "I started messing around with oil paints when I was about ten but, you know, without instruction," he remembers. In 1999, Mellencamp covered his own songs as well as those by Bob Dylan and the Drifters for his album Rough Harvest (recorded in 1997), one of two albums he owed Mercury Records to fulfill his contract (the other was The Best That I Could Do, a best-of collection). And yet, George W. Bush has lied to us, failed to keep our own borders secure, entered a war under false pretense, endangered lives, and created financial chaos. But some of those songs we didnt record were pretty good, too.[49], In the summer of 2022, Mellencamp confirmed through his social media channels that he is, indeed, working on the follow-up to Strictly a One-Eyed Jack. In addition to the score, Mellencamp wrote two original songs for Ithaca: "Sugar Hill Mountain" (sung by Carlene Carter) and "Seeing You Around" (sung by Leon Redbone). "Indigo Sunset" was written by both Mellencamp and Carter, while Mellencamp wrote the music to "My Soul's Got Wings", giving life to a previously unheard lyric written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. As of 2018, she has released thirteen albums. The album, which Mellencamp called at the time the most "earthy" record he'd ever made, is also the last to feature the "Cougar" moniker. But in the years that followed, the family has endured the worst of times. John Mellencamp - Pink Houses John Mellencamp - Jack and Diane John Melloncamp - Wild Night Johnny . In my own way I have tried to address these issues in song. Home Help Search Login Register John Mellencamp Community > MELLENCAMP DISCUSSION > The Band > Current Members Of John's Band? The CD will come out ahead of time. I do not want some guy walking up to me going, Hey John, I saw you in Detroit or something, it was a great show except my wife got COVID and died. Just the thought of hearing thatThe business side of my career is like, This many people will see it! ", "John Cougar" redirects here. "[10], Scarecrow was the first album Mellencamp recorded at his own recording studio, jokingly dubbed "Belmont Mall", located in Belmont, Indiana and built in 1984. According to Sheets, "In recent years, Mellencamp has incorporated the looser, more jangly rhythms of street art into panoramic canvases that reflect his social and political activism also present in his music. I want to write my songs, do some little shows. And then it just kept evolving and evolving and evolving, and the songs that she was bringing and the songs that I was bringingthey weren't so religious. In the liner notes to Mellencamps 2010 box set On the Rural Route 7609, Anthony DeCurtis wrote of Mellencamps influence on the No Depression movement: "In finding his voice as a lyricist and activist, Mellencamp also crafted a more fitting musical vision for himself (in the mid-1980s). "When the song first came out I was in the car one day and we were driving to the airport and I had my kids with me and a radio station was playing 'To Washington' and having callers call in", Mellencamp said. In 2001, Billboard magazine editor-in-chief Timothy White said: John Mellencamp is arguably the most important roots rocker of his generation. ! So thats encouraging.[49], Some of the songs that may be on Mellencamp's next album are leftovers from Strictly a One-Eyed Jack. There would be four or five days like that when I would be completely gone. By Thad Requet. John Cougar Mellencamp AKA John Mellencamp Born: 7-Oct - 1951 Birthplace: Seymour, IN Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Singer/Songwriter Party Affiliation: Democratic Nationality: United States Executive summary: Jack and Diane "I had planned to have the record out now but I haven't finished. Stay ornery, stay mean. Learning those opened the band's vision to try new things on my songs. [34][35] Carter was featured on only five of Sad Clowns & Hillbillies' 13 tracks and contributed to the writing of just two songs. She harmonizes with Mellencamp on "My Sweet Love" and provides background vocals to three other songs on Life, Death, Love and Freedom, which became the ninth Top 10 album of Mellencamp's career when it debuted at No. [87], Mellencamp is a supporter of Indiana University and the Indiana Hoosiers, and received an honorary doctorate from the university in 2000. 1:07. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to '60s Rock)" (No. His professional music career began in earnest in 1976 when MCA Records released his first album, The Chestnut Street Incident. "But we took it further than an urban record. When we walked out onstage, there wasn't a band on Earth to touch us. Mainstream Rock chart, "Q: I've seen John's name in print as both "John Cougar Mellencamp" and "John Little Cougar Mellencamp" and "lil 'John Cougar Mellencat". Mellencamp is also one of the founding members of Farm Aid, an organization that began in 1985 with a concert in Champaign, Illinois, to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. He performed "Down by the River" on January 29, 2010, in Los Angeles in tribute to Neil Young, who was honored at the 20th annual MusiCares Person of the Year gala. Mellencamp was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 14, 2018. I'm sitting there listening to it and thinking, "Did Rosanne Cash just kill that song or what!" 10 on the Billboard 200, becoming the 10th Top 10 album of his career. I sang a little bit on his record. And it don't matter who you care to name U2, The Rolling Stones, anybody. Mr. 88: 'Ghost Brothers of Darkland County', a Musical for Men", "Stephen King and John Mellencamp Will Redevelop GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY for Licensing", "An Open Letter to America: It's Time to Take Back Our Country", "Mellencamp Music for McCain? John Cougar Mellencamp . Pepper' of Americana to me. The induction ceremony took place in New York City on March 10, 2008, and he was inducted by his good friend Billy Joel, who asked Mellencamp to induct him into the Rock Hall back in 1999 (he had to opt out because of another commitment, so Ray Charles inducted Joel). Rees gets some humorous comments from Mellencamp band members who were instructed to and had to sign a form saying they would not be within 250 feet of Dylanor even look him in the eye! Part of the No Depression mythology requires either a tragic early death or decades of unacknowledged masterpieces created during a life of grueling poverty. Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008,[2] followed by an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. The correct answer is all of the. 7 on the Billboard 200 the week of August 2, 2008. He has amassed 22 Top 40 hits in the United States. Mellencamp's next studio album, 1987's The Lonesome Jubilee, included the singles "Paper in Fire" (No. He's a Grammy-winner and the recipient of numerous awards including The Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck Awards, ASCAP Foundation's Champion Award and their highest honor the Founders Award, the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting and . People need to hear a voice like yours that's out there to echo the discontent that's out there in the heartland. (The song would later be included, in a re-recorded version, on Mellencamp's 2017 album Sad Clowns & Hillbillies.) ", "Every day that I walk up in my art studio and I complete a painting, I have something to show for my time", says Mellencamp, who sees himself painting through old age. Mellencamp's artwork has been the focus of a number of exhibitions. ", Mellencamp has also honed his skills by his own self-education in art history, visiting museums across Europe and America whenever he was on tour and studying a broad spectrum of artists and the mechanics of their work and by looking at signs and billboards out the windows of cars and buses while crisscrossing the country. At these dozen shows, which ranged in length from 45 to 60 minutes, Mellencamp covered a number of rock and folk classics and sprinkled in a few of his own songs. This is rock music that tells the truth on both its composer and the culture he's observing.[55]. And I said, 'Well, I am.' During this time he abused drugs and alcohol, stating in a 1986 Rolling Stone interview, "When I was high on pot, it affected me so drastically that when I was in college there were times when I wouldn't get off the couch. Mellencamp sang "Our Country" to open Game 2 of the 2006 World Series, and the song was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance category, but lost to Bruce Springsteen's "Radio Nowhere". Known over the course of his successful four-decade music career for his acutely observed songs about the American landscape and its cast of characters, Mellencamp has been equally productive as a painter mining similar terrain. Mellencamp sang the gospel song "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" at White's funeral on July 2, 2002. [90], Mellencamp was married to Priscilla Esterline from 1970 until 1981 and to Victoria Granucci from 1981 until 1989. His work has also been exhibited at Herron School of Art and Design, a division of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. I wrote all the songs, 17 songs. I'd listen to this record, that record. "[70], Mellencamp wrote the score for the Meg Ryan movie Ithaca, which premiered on October 23, 2015, at the Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia and was released in theaters and on-demand by Momentum Pictures on September 9, 2016. In 2010, Mellencamp's music was used by the National Organization for Marriage at events opposing same-sex marriage. I ain't lying. On December 6, 2009, Mellencamp performed "Born in the U.S.A." as a tribute to Bruce Springsteen, who was one of the honorees at the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors. Pages: [ 1] Current Members Of John's Band? Mellencamp performed "Small Town" at a Barack Obama rally in Evansville, Indiana on April 22, the night of the 2008 Pennsylvania primary. One reviewer called the opening gig of the European leg of the tour "maybe the best rock-performance ever in Denmark. In his music, mortality, anxiety, acts of God, questions of romance and brotherhood, and crises of conscience all collide and demand hard decisions. Hell, as long as you sell a few records and the record company isn't putting a lot of money into promotion, you're making money for 'em and that's all they care about. Mellencamp confessed in a 2005 interview: "That [name] was put on me by some manager. After a while, we didn't even have to talk about it anymore. At Gaff's request, Mellencamp moved to London, England, for nearly a year to record, promote, and tour behind 1978's A Biography. Surely you can find 12-to-15 songs that will work."[43]. And what a group of names they were: John Mellencamp, Dwight Yoakam, Joe Ely, James McMurtry, and John Prine made up the Buzzin' Cousins, Mellencamp's lark of an answer to the Travelin'. During the next forty years, the events of that night became the stuff of local legend. [93] It was reported that Mellencamp and Ryan broke up in the middle of 2014 after dating for over three years. The album was recorded in mono. For the album, see, 19761982: Performing as Johnny Cougar and John Cougar, 19831990: Performing as John Cougar Mellencamp, Last edited on 12 February 2023, at 20:36, Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, R.O.C.K. You know it, and I know it. I was hit by lightning by that concert. With credits that read like a top-40 list, Aronoff has cemented himself as a first-call drummer in the business of making gold records. Also Known As. The album's first single was "My Sweet Love". In 1988, Rolling Stone magazine called this version of Mellencamp's band "one of the most powerful and versatile live bands ever assembled." Born . They don't care how they hear it as long as they hear it good and loud and clear the way you've always been saying it all along. Germano played with Mellencamp from 1985-1993 before leaving in 1994 to pursue a solo career. On July 30, 2012, in San Jose, CA, Mellencamp was honored with the John Steinbeck Award, given to those individuals who exemplify the spirit of "Steinbeck's empathy, commitment to democratic values, and belief in the dignity of the common man. Art writer Doug McClemont, in a review for Art Space, stated: "Mellencamp paints handsomely grotesque portraits in oil that are as solemn and stirring as his hit songs are catchy and inspirational. What happened was the girl he fell in love with got sent to Haiti, he went down and met with the devil and bad things happenedYou can read about Orpheus in Greek mythology."[51]. 5 on the Billboard 200 album chart by selling 56,000 copies in its first week on the market. 2), "Rain on the Scarecrow" (No. John Mellencamp Shares "Carolina Shag" Lyric Video- Reissue Of Seminal Album "Scarecrow" Out November 4th Read More. The first album recorded under his new name John Cougar Mellencamp was 1983's Uh-Huh, a Top-10 album that spawned the Top 10 singles "Pink Houses" and "Crumblin' Down" as well as the No. During the pandemic, Mellencamp wrote at least 15 songs. 48 on the Billboard singles chart. But legend is often just another word for lie. "[29] Mellencamp said Dylan's endorsement was worth more than 10 Grammys.[30]. I was that close. We had a lot of fun together when we were kids. So you'll get all the dialogue, all the sound effects, and all the songs sung by different people so you can follow the story. [6], After 18 months of traveling between Indiana and New York City in 1974 and 1975, Mellencamp found someone receptive to his music and image in Tony DeFries of MainMan Management. During his induction speech for Mellencamp, Joel said:[69]. If you listen to the lead Larry [Crane] plays on 'Face of the Nation,' he never would have played that 'cause he didn't really know who the Animals were. Donovan made a record (in 1966), Sunshine Superman, and I wanted to start with that same kind of vibeEastern, very grand stories, fairy tales.". He's played with the likes of John Mellencamp, Paul McCartney, Sting, Bon Jovi, Elton John, The Smashing Pumpkins, MeatloafThe list goes . He wrote about half of it after I read him the script, and then the next half after he saw the movie. Jon E. Gee) fits in to the John Mellencamp band so well is because of his dedication to what he does. News: Visit Mellencamp.com's NEWS section for all of the latest updates! He's a great songwriter and I have become very close [with him] and had a lot of fun with him. Mellencamp participated in a tribute concert for Pete Seeger's 90th birthday on May 3, 2009, at Madison Square Garden in New York City which raised funds for an environmental organization founded by Seeger to preserve and protect the Hudson River. Explore John Mellencamp's discography including top tracks, albums, and reviews. Mellencamp embarked on the Cuttin' Heads Tour in the summer of 2001, before the album was even released. He has also been bestowed with the Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef Special Music Industry Humanitarian Award (1991), the Billboard Century Award (2001), the Woody Guthrie Award (2003), and the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award (2007). That was when we became friends, when I went to Indiana and recorded with him and the guys this really cool song called 'Sugar Hill Mountain' that's in the movie. On February 27, 2020, Mellencamp's official social media accounts confirmed that he was currently recording an album at his Belmont Mall recording studio. On December 30, 2010, Mellencamp announced that he and Irwin had separated after 18 years of marriage. Mellencamp participated in the Vote for Change tour in October 2004 leading up to the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. "[5], During his college years, Mellencamp played in several local bands, including the glitter-band Trash, which was named for a New York Dolls song, and he later got a job in Seymour installing telephones. I went to New York and everybody said, 'You sound like a hillbilly.' According to Mellencamp, "German painting remains the basic foundation for what I do same as folk music is the foundation of my songs. In a September 2020 interview, Mellencamp guitarist Andy York said that 10 songs have already been recorded and mixed for the album, but a planned final session in April 2020 to complete the project was scuttled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And I read the script and I thought, 'Yeah, I get it but I don't want to take my shirt off.' The album captures his live performance at Town Hall in New York City on July 31, 2003, in which he performed every track from his 2003 Trouble No More covers album in addition to a rendition of "Highway 61 Revisited" by Bob Dylan and reworked versions of three of his own songs. A video for the song was filmed in Savannah, Georgia on June 9, 2008. But we had a very clear idea of what we wanted it to sound like, even before it was written, right through to the day it was mastered. With a lo-fi setup that included portable amps and a battery-powered P.A. In November 2010, Mellencamp told the Chicago Tribune: T Bone and I and Stephen King are working on a musical. [46], In May 2021, Mellencamp revealed that he recently finished the album and that Bruce Springsteen would make a guest appearance on the project. That's from a song of his called 'Life is Short Even on Its Longest Days.' Cuttin' Heads also included a duet with Trisha Yearwood on a love song called "Deep Blue Heart". That heart attack eventually forced him to cancel the last few weeks of the tour. You hear it, and it's like 'where did that come from?' [98] In November 2018, the couple became engaged. In addition, he holds the record for the most tracks by a solo artist to hit number one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven. For Mellencamp, painting has always been a refuge, a solitary antidote to the hectic life of touring and performing. Although Mellencamp had always been outspoken and adamant about not selling any of his songs to corporations to use in commercials, he changed his stance and let Chevrolet use "Our Country" in Chevy Silverado TV commercials that began airing in late September 2006. "George was a dreamer, and I was sorry to hear of his passing."[53]. And the movie is wonderful. "Like when you're married, when you're friends with somebody for a long time, the more things build up the more things can go wrong," Mellencamp said in the liner notes to his 2010 box set, On the Rural Route 7609. In 1984, when asked about his views on drugs, he told Bill Holdship of Creem magazine, "If you want to stick needles in your arms, go ahead and fucking do it. "[20] The No Better Than This Tour returned to the U.S. for one final round of shows from October 25 to November 19, 2011. I was totally unaware of it until it showed up on the album jacket. Feb. 27, 2023 Updated: Feb. 27, 2023 8:33 a.m. San Antonio rocked out with John Mellencamp at the Majestic Theatre over the weekend. I'm gonna come out and play with upright bass and cocktail [drum] kits and a lot of acoustic instruments. Mellencamp has sold over 30 million albums in the US and over 60 million worldwide. "This is as naked a rock record as you're going to hear," Mellencamp said of Dance Naked in a 1994 Billboard magazine interview. "For the last four decades, John Mellencamp has captured the American experience in his songs", said ASCAP President Paul Williams. You're the one that's going to pay the consequences. And I wrote quite a few songs for this record, and some of the songs didnt have his voice, didnt have the feeling that this record has. "There were personal problems, cross-pollinated with professional issues. "Nobody's selling anything, there's no souvenirsexcept what's in everybody's heart", Mellencamp told Billboard magazine. According to Dr. Louis A. Zona, director and curator of the Butler Institute: "I was interested in the dialogue between Mellencamp's work and the Butler's more traditional collection of 19th- and 20th- century American art by masters including John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and Raphael Soyer. We have gone too far with the shameful killing and genocidefrom the Native Americans to where we find ourselves today. It originated when Mellencamp's Lonesome Jubilee tour went to Australia in 1988 - Urban was in attendance at one of the concerts and described the experience as an "epiphany. The question is whether or not he can bring himself to tell the truth in time to save his own troubled sons, and whether the ghosts left behind by an act of violence will help him or tear the McCandless family apart forever. In 1991, Mellencamp said: "'Big Daddy' was the best record I ever made. The band behind the man presents backup vocals, guitars, bass, keyboard, saxophone, synth, percussion and drums that will leave you wondering if it isn't Mellencamp's or . 19. His original intent was to duet on the Freedom's Road track Jim Crow" with singer and activist Joan Baez. 28). His emotionally authentic, straightforward rock n' roll reflects his upbringing in the Heartland, combining pop, country, and folk to create poetic grooves that you can also jam out to on a bar's jukebox. [88][89] He donated $1.5 million to the school to build an indoor athletics training facility, which was named John Mellencamp Pavilion. Which is correct? On August 13, 2007, Mellencamp began recording his 18th album of original material, titled Life, Death, Love and Freedom. The musical debuted in the spring of 2012 at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, where it ran from April 4 through May 13. Following the delivery of his address, Indiana University bestowed upon him an honorary Doctorate of Musical Arts. But once this latest round of COVID hit I said, Guys, whats the difference this year, next year? That's when I was believe it or not, I used to not be as ugly as I am now. Troye Kinnett grew up near Muncie, Ind. And it doesn't matter if they hear it on a jukebox, in the local gin mill, or in a goddamn truck commercial because they ain't gonna hear it on the radio any more. "[14], In 1989, Mellencamp released the personal album Big Daddy, with the key tracks "Jackie Brown", "Big Daddy of Them All", and "Void in My Heart" accompanying the Top 15 single "Pop Singer". During the 198788 Lonesome Jubilee Tour, Mellencamp was joined onstage by surprise guest Bruce Springsteen at the end of his May 26, 1988, gig in Irvine, California, for a duet of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", which Mellencamp performed as the penultimate song during each show on that tour. Mellencamp and Green had a falling out in the early 2000s, and Green ultimately moved from Bloomington, Indiana to Taos, New Mexico in 2001. The record wasn't released in the United States, but it yielded a top-five hit in Australia with "I Need a Lover". Im gonna err on the side of caution, Mellencamp told Billboard Magazine. When the band formed in Los Angeles in 1977, Jeff Porcaro, the eldest of three brothers, was the drummer and de facto leader; Steve, the youngest, played keyboards. Daughter Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave was a cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for three seasons. I mean, we were really good. Kenny Aronoff is about as successful as a freelance drummer can get. He opened each show on this tour with a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and also played a solo acoustic version of the Cuttin' Heads track "Women Seem" at each show. Background "Cherry Bomb" features a female voice (Mellencamp background singer Crystal Taliefero) and two other male voices (band members Toby Myers and Mike Wanchic) in addition to Mellencamp's on the second verse.Mellencamp told GQ magazine in 2022 what inspired him to have voices other than his own take turns singing lead: "Sly and the Family Stone. Mellencamp performed solo acoustic renditions of Seeger and Lee Hays' "If I Had a Hammer" and his own "A Ride Back Home.". To anybody who's said thank you to me, I say, 'You're very nice, but, really, thank you. In response, Mellencamp instructed Merlis to pen a letter to NOM stating "that Mr. Mellencamp's views on same sex marriage and equal rights for people of all sexual orientations are at odds with NOM's stated agenda" and requesting that NOM "find music from a source more in harmony with your views than Mr. Mellencamp in the future. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer brought his North American tour . Upcoming John Mellencamp tour dates, ticket links and venue information His latest album of original songs, Strictly a One-Eyed Jack, was released on January 21, 2022. Mellencamp would leave the stage as Donovan played seven or eight of his songs (backed by Mellencamp's band) and then return to finish off his own set after Donovan departed. "We realized more than ever what a big melting pot of all different types of music the '60s were. in the U.S.A.", "Paper in Fire", and "Cherry Bomb". On September 29, 2021, Mellencamp released the audio and music video for "Wasted Days", a duet with Springsteen, as the lead single from Strictly a One-Eyed Jack. "It was too labored over, too thought about, and it wasn't organic enough. "[28], After a star-studded lineup paid tribute to Dylan with cover versions of some of his greatest songs, Dylan closed the evening with a 30-minute speech that included a reference to Mellencamp's 2008 song "Longest Days". Never has Mellencamp sounded so artful. Now, we weren't playing the best songs in the world. But that's a good thing. John's band members have been working on some non Mellencamp related projects check out their updates below. It may be the first-ever musical written by men for men. Learn all about John Mellencamp on AllMusic. They're recording the dialogue now and we're putting out a record of the entire show before it comes out. If these works are any indication, plain painting can be extraordinarily eloquent.". "He is a great American musician from an agricultural heartland, which is close to our own agrarian roots," said Lois Riggins-Ezzell, the Tennessee State Museum's executive director. We had Kris Kristofferson, Neko Case, Elvis Costello, Taj Mahal, all singing different characters' roles. [50], During a performance in his hometown of Seymour, Indiana on September 17, 2022 to benefit the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts, Mellencamp revealed the title of the new record to be Orpheus Descending. [27], Outside of the Plain Spoken Tour, Mellencamp's most noteworthy live performance in 2015 came on February 6, when he paid tribute to Bob Dylan at the annual MusiCares Person of the Year event by performing a piano-and-vocal rendition of "Highway 61 Revisited" (the piano was played by Troye Kinnett from Mellencamp's band). "I agonized", Mellencamp told USA Today's Edna Gundersen in 2007 over his decision to license "Our Country" to Chevrolet. Mellencamp's interest in painting began in early life but was superseded in the 1980s by his skyrocketing musical career. [3], Mellencamp was born in Seymour, Indiana, on October 7, 1951. A lot of my songs weren't that great, but they were good enough. [91] Their divorce became official on August 12, 2011, with the couple negotiating "an amicable settlement of all issues involving property and maintenance rights, the custody and support of their children, and all other issues", according to the settlement agreement. And they gave me this script called Thelma & Louise and they said, 'The guy wrote the part with you in mind, John, you really gotta do this part.' I can tell you theres a couple good songs already that I thought, Wow, did I write that fuckin song? [42] Mellencamp confirmed in 2021 that it will be a jukebox musical titled Small Town and the story will involve two kids named Jack and Diane. There's no orchestra, just two twangy acoustic guitars, an accordion, and a fiddle. "[67], In June 2019, WhyHunger bestowed 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. [75] Production on the musical's recorded soundtrack began on June 15, 2009, when T Bone Burnett, who served as the project's musical producer, began laying down tracks in Los Angeles for the songs Mellencamp wrote for the project. 46. Each member of the band has many years of not only experience, but has a heart to deliver the best possible experience. Happy Go Lucky and a subsequent four-month tour from March to July 1997 to promote it, Mellencamp signed a four-album deal with Columbia Records, although he wound up making only three albums for the label. "[23], In October 2013, Mellencamp revealed that he was working on a new album, and he offered this update on the project to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "I've had a couple rehearsals with the band, and T Bone [Burnett] and I go in the studio in January. So I just put those songs on a shelf, and cut it back down to a single record. They involve expressiveness by means of exaggeration and distortion of line and color, in favor of a simplified style intended to carry an emotional impact. I've recorded 10 and I have 17 more to do and I'll pick 10 of the 27 songs". Orpheus Descending will be released in February 2023. I don't think it's a good idea, and I sure don't advocate it, but I'm not going to judge people. I'll play for, like, 40 minutes that way. "[73], The film news website Deadline Hollywood, reported that the filmmakers of "The Legend of Jack and Diane," were inspired by Mellencamp's song "Jack & Diane," began production in Los Angeles in January 2022, and are in talks with Mellencamps team about music for the film.[74].
