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John Mellencamp: “I’m as left-wing as you can get”

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 19:00:00 +0000

John Mellencamp tells a mean ghost story. Explaining the origins of his latest effort — a collaborative country-rock album written with Stephen King and produced by T-Bone Burnett — he details murder, mayhem and mutilation in grisly detail, with a keen sense of the absurd and a sheepish admission of his own cowardice in the face of creepy. It’s not hard to imagine him holding forth over a campfire, enthralling a pack of Boy Scouts with a spooky tale while toasting marshmallows.

The ghost story in question — recounted below — is all true, Mellencamp says, and it inspired “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County,” an ambitious project 15 years in the making. Mellencamp wrote the songs, King penned the libretto, and Burnett assembled an impressive cast of actors and singers, including Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Matthew McConaughey and Meg Ryan. The album was released this month, and a short tour will follow in the fall.

Mellencamp isn’t quite sure what to call “Ghost Brothers,” which recounts two generations of sibling enmity, but he does admit it gives him the creeps. Speaking to Salon, he detailed those eerie origins, explained why it took a decade and a half, and revealed the greatest horror of them all: having your song co-opted by a politician.

Must-see morning clip: John Mellencamp performs Stephen King collaboration

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:26:00 +0000

This week, singer John Mellencamp released his long-awaited "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," an unusual collaboration that uses the gripping writing of Stephen King and masterful music production of T Bone Burnett to tell a supernatural story that LA Times describes as "a macabre tale brimming with sibling rivalry, jealousy, unresolved hatred and supernatural forces of evil":

In the work that was inspired by the real-life incident, the ghosts of brothers Jack and Andy, girlfriend Jenna and a caretaker haunt the cabin 40 years down the line when the youngest brother, Joe (voiced on the recording by Kris Kristofferson) returns as an adult with his wife and two sons.

Joe wants to face haunting childhood memories of the tragedy that resulted in the deaths of his beloved brothers and their girlfriend, hoping that in doing so he can stave off similar feuding between his own sons, Frank and Drake, voiced by country star Ryan Bingham and singer-songwriter Will Dailey. Sheryl Crow sings the part of Jenna.

One of the tracks, "Truth," has been premiered exclusively on "The Colbert Report." Give it a listen, below:

Obama’s last celebrity push

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:04:00 +0000

With the 2012 election now down to its last day, President Obama has been pulling in major star power to urge Americans to get out and vote. According to the AP, 181 celebrities, including prominent actors, musicians, authors, athletes and politicians, "are being deployed to carry his message to television and radio in the waning days of the campaign." Just this weekend alone ...

Stevie Wonder played a surprise concert in Ohio:

Neil Diamond worked the phones in Los Angeles:

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(Of course, he sang too):

Will Ferrell, the founder of Facebook, said "he'll personally give you a tattoo" if you vote for Obama:

Katy Perry performed in Milwaukee: