JOHN MELLENCAMP TO RELEASE ‘SAD CLOWNS & HILLBILLIES’ FEATURING CARLENE CARTER APRIL 28

New Single “Grandview” Featuring Martina McBride Released Today

Pre-Order Sad Clowns & Hillbillies HERE / Listen to “Grandview” HERE

24 FEBRUARY 2017 (Toronto, ON) - Heartland rocker John Mellencamp will release his 23rd full-length album, Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, featuring Carlene Carter, the daughter of June Carter Cash and stepdaughter of Johnny Cash, on April 28 via Republic/Universal Music Canada, the country's leading music company. Sad Clowns & Hillbillies returns Mellencamp to the musical eclecticism that is itself a reflection of his wide-ranging musings on life. John Mellencamp is an authentic voice of American music and master storyteller with a commitment to creating traditional rock & roll, bittersweet songs of happiness and melancholia, and fervent political dissent. His passions and experiences resonate beautifully in this showcase of his music. Sad Clowns & Hillbillies is produced by John Mellencamp. Mellencamp’s new single is Grandview featuring Country music star Martina McBride. He released the track Easy Target in January as a continuation of his journey to convey the truth through this passionate and plain-spoken song which focuses on the Black Lives Matter movement as well as gun violence in America. The accompanying video's release occurred on the eve of the U.S. presidential inauguration. Fans who pre-order Sad Clowns & Hillbillies will get an instant download of Grandview and Easy Target. This summer, Mellencamp will tour across North America for his all-new Sad Clowns & Hillbillies tour with special guests, Emmylou Harris, tour-mate Carlene Carter and Lily & Madeleine. No Canadian dates have yet been announced. Sad Clowns and Hillbillies is the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s follow up to 2014’s critically-acclaimed, Plain Spoken.

mellencamp.com

TRACK LISTING:

MOBILE BLUE
BATTLE OF ANGELS
GRANDVIEW  Featuring Martina McBride
INDIGO SUNSET
WHAT KIND OF MAN AM I
ALL NIGHT TALK RADIO
SUGAR HILL MOUNTAIN
YOU ARE BLIND
DAMASCUS ROAD
EARLY BIRD CAFÉ
SAD CLOWNS
MY SOUL’S GOT WINGS
EASY TARGET

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JOHN MELLENCAMP John Mellencamp’s career in music, spanning more than 35 years, has seen him transition from pop star to one of the most highly respected singer/songwriters of a generation. Mellencamp is incredibly acclaimed; he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a Grammy winner, a recipient of the John Steinbeck Award, ASCAP Foundation’s Champion Award, The Woody Guthrie Award and Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award and more recently, the Founders Award, the top honour assigned by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He is also one of the most successful live concert performers in the world. In 1985, Mellencamp, together with Willie Nelson and Neil Young, created Farm Aid. The social activism reflected in his songs helped catalyze Farm Aid, the concert series and organization that has addressed the struggle of American family farmers for more than 25 years. John also wrote the title song for the upcoming film, The Yellow Birds, an American war film directed by Alexandre Moors and based on the novel The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Jack Huston, Alden Ehrenreich, Jennifer Aniston, and Toni Collette. Mellencamp continues to focus on another facet of his artistic expression: painting. His style has progressed over the years as evidenced by several gallery shows and published portfolios, and in recent years he has increased his output by completing over 100 new works. His pieces were shown in 2012 at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville under the title “Nothing Like I Planned: The Art Of John Mellencamp” and, more recently at the Butler Institute of American Art in an exhibition entitled “The Paintings Of John Mellencamp.” “The Paintings of John Mellencamp” traveled to the Museum of Art-DeLand, Florida and John’s art was showcased at the ACA Gallery in New York. The unique instrumentation of his band and his poignant songs about everyday life in the American heartland, are widely credited with being the forebearer of the Americana/No Depression genre of rural-inflected music. An extraordinary collaboration performed by an ensemble cast of 15 actors and a four-piece live band, comprised of members of John Mellencamp’s band is The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a musical with music and lyrics by John Mellencamp, a libretto by author Stephen King and production by T Bone Burnett. The show is being further developed in London, though King and Mellencamp are no longer as actively involved. Mellencamp continues his journey as the walking embodiment of heartland rock; passionate, plain-spoken, and a self-proclaimed rebel. John Mellencamp continues to live and work in Bloomington, Indiana.