“Mellencamp delivers the songs on Sad Clowns & Hillbillies in a soulful rasp alternately suggestive of Tom Waits and latter-day Bob Dylan.“- NPR
“John Mellencamp’s place in the pantheon of late 20th century pop music is well established.” –Paste
“Sad Clowns & Hillbillies is a triumph for the rebellious, modern storyteller, a perfect homage to the craft of Folk Rock always with extensive influences and eclectic sounds interwoven to create a flawless end product.”- Cryptic Rock
APRIL 28, 2017 NEW YORK, NY: Heartland rocker John Mellencamp releases his 23rd full-length album Sad Clowns & Hillbillies featuring Carlene Carter—the daughter of June Carter Cash and stepdaughter of Johnny Cash—on Republic Records today. Get it HERE.
This past week, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer teamed up with NPR to stream the album early as a NPR “First Listen” where they proclaimed “By the time the album is done…what else you can do but start the damn thing over again?” In addition, he took the stage at Late Night With Seth Meyer for an interview with Meyers where he discussed how Bob Dylan first told him to start selling his now infamous paintings, performed “Grandview” joined by one of country’s biggest voices Martina McBride, and treated audiences to an acoustic rendition of “Jack and Diane.” Check out the interview here, performance of “Grandview” featuring Martina McBride here, and “Jack and Diane” here.
Next week, Mellencamp will continue his string of television appearances as he is scheduled to perform on the Today Show on May 3rd and speak with CNN New Day on May 4th.
This summer, Mellencamp will tour for 22 stops across North America for his all-new Sad Clowns & Hillbillies tour kicking off on June 5th in Denver, Colorado with special guests, Emmylou Harris, tour-mate Carlene Carter and Lily & Madeleine. Every online ticket purchased comes with one physical CD of Sad Clowns & Hillbillies. See the full tour itinerary and purchase tickets here.
Sad Clowns and Hillbillies is the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s follow up to 2014’s critically-acclaimed, Plain Spoken, Mellencamp’s fourth consecutive Top 20 album, dating back to 2007’s Freedom Road.
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
