John Mellencamp------Speaking the Plain Truth by Mark Hunter Take
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MAY 28- JUNE 3, 2015 ---------------------------- Feature • John Mellencamp --------------------------- Speaking the Plain Truth By Mark Hunter take. In his case he is working to be the best In the mid 1970s Mellencamp left his John Mellencamp he can be. hometown of Seymour, Indiana to move to At 63 John Mellencamp looks and Many artists his age find that New York. He had played in several bands sounds like he’s missed more than a few their creative well is around Seymour and wanted to see if he scheduled maintenance appointments. drying up year by could make it in the big city. At the same During a recent appearance on Late year. This is not time he was trying to save money to go to Night With David Letterman, Mel- the case with art school. Music won. He got a record deal, lencamp displayed the lines etched Mellencamp. and a new name. He was happy about the around his eyes and across his high But he no lon- first and not so happy about the second. By forehead, and the gravel he carries ger claims the time he found out that he was going to be Monday, June 1 • 7:30pm around in his throat. Put him in a responsibility known as Johnny Cougar, his manager had pair of overalls and he could easily for the songs already plastered the name on posters and on (Signup @ 7pm) • Free be mistaken for a sun-baked farmer he writes. They the first album. His manager, Tony DeFries fresh from the plow, a perpetual ciga- just come to him (who also managed David Bowie) told him rette clenched in his lips. from someplace no one would buy a record by John Mellen- OPEN MIC with In this case it was Mellencamp’s and he merely jots camp. right hand clutching the smoke, which t h e m Turns out no one would buy a record by SUNNY TAYLOR Letterman eyed warily each time his Johnny Cougar either. In an interview Mel- guest reached for the desk to flick an lencamp did with Rolling Stone founder GO TO OUR WEBSITE ash. It was an odd and funny scene. Jann Wenner, he mentioned the review Mellencamp brought up the fact of Chestnut Street Incident that ran FOR TICKET INFO & MORE that both of them had had in the magazine. Then Wenner read ALL SHOWS ALL AGES heart attacks. Letterman, it: “Johnny Cougar is a comically possibly confusing inept singer who unfortunately Mellencamp’s mild takes himself seriously. His heart attack with debut album is full of ridicu- one that killed Mor- lous posturing with virtually phine’s Mark Sand- nothing to back it up. Cou- man onstage in Italy gar’s talent is all in his in 1999, suggested face – nice haircut, nice Mellencamp’s oc- stylized James Dean Where Is Your Used curred onstage headshot on the cover in Japan when, – and that makes him BAND INSTRUMENT? in fact, it hap- just another ready- In a Closet? Attic? Garage? pened sometime made pop throw- during his 1994 away.” Ouch. Donate It to PITCH Dance Naked Some guys tour, maybe in might have cashed it New York. Mel- in at that point. His lencamp didn’t label dropped him. know for sure. People thought he “You don’t was a joke. But he kept know when you at. He had left Seymour have those things,” because he was running he said. Flick. out of options. He was Scoffing at his married and had a daugh- doctors. Lighting up ter and he’d tried a bunch of wherever. Fighting au- blue-collar jobs that he either thority. It was classic Mel- quit or got fired from. Putting Instruments in the Children’s Hands lencamp. Going back to Seymour Mellencamp was in New was not going to satisfy him. Mel- IVE THE IFT OF USIC York with his band as part of a tour lencamp had been a fighter since G G M , that visits the Embassy Theatre in birth. (He was born with spina ONE CHILD AT A TI M E Fort Wayne on Saturday, June 6. The bifida, and when he was days Bloomington, Indiana resident will per- old underwent an experimental PITCH is a not for profit organization form some songs from Plain Spoken, and life-saving operation.) providing band instruments to music his 22nd release, as well as many of the JOHN MELLENCAMP So he found a new la- students in the Fort Wayne area. hits that defined a decade. He still likes bel and released two more re- to rock, but these days there’s more roll w/CARLENE CARTER cords, the second of which, Johnny Cou- Whether you donate cash or a band involved. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 6 gar, struck a chord with the song “I Need a instrument, 100% of your donation will Plain Spoken is the third record Mel- Lover.” In 1982 his fifth record, American go directly to support PITCH efforts. lencamp has made with T Bone Burnett Embassy Theatre Fool, went to No.1. With his sudden yet Contact us at: pitchforkids.net who, according to Mellencamp, gave 125 W. Jefferson Blvd., Fort Wayne hard-won success, Mellencamp slowly be- him the best advice he’s had in recent Tix: $42-$106.50 thru Ticketmaster gan to regain and discover his identity si- [email protected] years: be age appropriate. On the record multaneously. His next record, 1983’s Uh Like us on Facebook Mellencamp stays with the themes that and box office, 260-424-5665 Huh, was by John Cougar Mellencamp. It have served him so well over the past took another eight years before the Cougar Sponsored by 30 years. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. down. When he’s not writing songs, he’s part of his name would wander off for good. TMS Venture Inc. - Todd Smith His songs focus on the struggles of daily painting, a talent he may have pursued ear- existence in whatever form those struggles lier if things had worked out differently. Continued on page 4 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- www.whatzup.com -----------------------------------------------------------------May 28, 2015 whatzup Volume 19, Number 41 & MORE t’s sort of a big deal when John Mellencamp comes to town. After all, three of his prior appearances here have been selected by our readers as Best National Concert of the year (in 2005, 2002 and 1999), and next weekend’s show at the EmbassyI was all but sold out last we checked. So making him our cover feature this week was a pretty easy choice. Plus, the promoter provided some pretty cool art, so there you go. You can read Mark Hunter’s cover story on page 2 – and this being something of a Mark Hunter special edition, you can also read his features on IPFW’s Community Arts Academy on page 4 and his profile on the band Triple Play on page 5. Just to break things up, Darren Hunt’s got a piece on The Brass Rail on page 6. There is plenty more: a review on the self-titled debut EP from the cleverly named Jafunkae in our Spins section, director Phillip Colglazier’s notes on the Civic’s play- wright festival winners on 17, a Fare Warning update on TRF on page 19, Lee and Locke on movies and lots of other stuff. But we opened this space with a mention of the Readers Poll, and since we’ve been getting lots of questions about that very topic lately, here’s whatzup on that. Starting next week we’ll be doing what we’re calling a weekly “slow reveal” of the winners. The Favorite TV and Radio Personalities will be revealed next week, the Best Visual Artist and Art Gallery the week after that and so on until mid-September when we reveal the Performer of the Year and the Best Overall Club. After that, well, maybe we’ll do some kind of show. We’ll see. Meanwhile, stay tuned, have some fun and tell A ’em whatzup sent you. inside the issue The Musical • features SCREEN TIME ...............................14 Greg’s Long Awaited Best of 2014 List ON BOOKS ..................................... 16 JOHN MELLENCAMP.................................2 Fort Wayne Museum of Art Speaking the Plain Truth C.O.W.L., Volume 1: Principles of Power 311 E. Main St. fwmoa.org IPFW COMMUNITY ARTS ACADEMY ..... 4 THE GREEN ROOM ........................ 16 Making Summer a Blast DIRECTOR’S NOTES ...................... 17 TRIPLE PLAY ................................................... 5 Is This Seat Taken?, Touch & Go UPCOMING EVENTS Fashioning a Following FARE WARNING ............................ 19 THE BRASS RAIL .......................................... 6 Art, Food, Drink Highlight TRF The Makeover on Broadway • calendars • columns & reviews LIVE MUSIC & COMEDY ...................8 SPINS ...............................................7 MUSIC/ON THE ROAD ...................12 Jafunkae, Dave Kerzner, Mikal Cronin ROAD TRIPZ ..................................13 BACKTRACKS ..................................7 Garnet Mimms, Warm and Soulful (1966) STAGE & DANCE ...........................17 OUT & ABOUT ...................................8 ART & ARTIFACTS .........................18 Lunch on the Plaza Starts Thursday THINGS TO DO ..............................18 June 6 | 7:30pm ROAD NOTEZ ................................. 12 FLIX ................................................ 14 Cover design by Greg Locke JOHN MELLENCA M P Far from the Madding Crowd Brass Rail Photo on page 6 by Bambi Guthrie Plain Spoken Tour June 14 | 7pm BUDDY NOLAN TRI B U T E CONCER T Ken Double on the Grande Page pipe organ June 17 | 9:30am BEHIND T HE SCREEN The Little Rascals and Family Fun Embassy Theatre 125 W. Jefferson Blvd. Fort Wayne, Indiana ticketmaster.com May 28, 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------ www.whatzup.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 BROUGHT TO YOU BY: --------------------Feature • IPFW Community Arts Academy ------------------ 20 Past 4 and More ..........................................................19 Allen Co. Public Library/Rock the Plaza .............................5 The Alley Sports Bar/Pro Bowl West ................................6 Beamer’s Sports Grill ..........................................................8 C2G Live/The TV Show ......................................................14 Making Summer a Blast C2G Music Hall......................................................................2 By Mark Hunter all very successful.” They can also learn the art of creating zom- Calhoun Street Soups, Salads, Spirits ............................9 And why wouldn’t they be? With of- bie makeup.