x-1

John Mellencamp & Stephen King’s Musical Releasing All-Star Soundtrack

View Comments
(Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

(Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

It’s an unlikely pairing: the world’s most famous horror writer, Stephen King, and… John Mellencamp? The unlikely duo have been working on a stage musical together for the last 13 years and now, they’re releasing it for the world to see, reports Rolling Stone.

Titled Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the musical debuted in a working version at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre in April. Now, a DVD of that performance and an all-star soundtrack of the show’s songs, as well as handwritten lyrics and a mini-documentary about its making, will be released March 19th. The soundtrack includes the likes of Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Taj Mahal, Neko Case and more performing music penned by Mellencamp (of course, Mellencamp performs as well). Listen to Costello’s contribution below.

The story itself feels like a distinctly American tale, with Mellencamp drawing inspiration from his own cabin outside of Bloomington, Indiana. He claims the cabin is haunted, following an incident in the 1930s, in which two brothers got into a fight over a woman at the cabin. One brother ended up dead, while the other sped away with the woman in question – later crashing into a lake and drowning. King’s resulting story involves two sets of brothers who weather the same sorts of struggles at the cabin, 30 years apart.

“I called up Stephen King and told him I wanted to make a musical out of the thing,” Mellencamp said. “It’s outside both of our wheelhouses.”

 

The duo also recruited another American treasure of culture for the project: superstar producer/songwriter/music supervisor T-Bone Burnett, who was brought in as the show’s musical director towards its completion.

However, the group remains unsure whether Ghost Brothers of Darkland County will ever make its way to Broadway, though they are in talks with potential investors.

“We were talking about Broadway right away,” King said. “John believes in reaching for the stars in everything he does. …But a lot of Broadway these days is f***ing Disneyland. It’s blue-haired ladies from Westchester County. They come in buses and they want to see Aida or the Lion King. It’s almost like an amusement park.”

Get a taste of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County with a video from its Atlanta stage production, and check out the full soundtrack roster below.

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County soundtrack:

“That’s Me,” Elvis Costello
“That’s Who I Am,” Neko Case
“So Goddamn Smart,” Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Sheryl Crow
“Wrong, Wrong, Wrong About Me,” Elvis Costello
“Brotherly Love,” Ryan Bingham, Will Dailey
“How Many Days,” Kris Kristofferson
“You Are Blind,” Ryan Bingham
“Home Again,” Sheryl Crow, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Taj Mahal
“You Don’t Know Me,” Rosanne Cash
“My Name Is Joe,” Clyde Mulroney
“Tear This Cabin Down,” Taj Mahal
“And Your Days Are Gone,” Sheryl Crow, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin
“Jukin’,” Sheryl Crow
“What Kind of Man Am I,” Kris Kristofferson, Phil Alvin, Sheryl Crow, Dave Alvin, Taj Mahal
“So Goddamn Good,” Phil Alvin, Dave Alvin, Sheryl Crow
“Away From This World,” Sheryl Crow
“Truth,” John Mellencamp

- Jillian Mapes, CBS Local

View Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
Listen Live!

Follow WXRT

Like us on foursquare

Latest Tweets

RSS Giveaways This Week

  • Win a foursome in the XRT Golf Outing!
    Are you king of the links? Want to test your stuff against Lin Brehmer and other XRT jocks? Enter below and you could find yourself hosting a foursome at the 93XRT Golf Outing, Wednesday, June […]
  • Join Hankook Tire To Reel In The Next Big Catch
    Join Hankook tire to reel in the next great catch! Click here to go to www.TirePrize.com and enter for your chance to win the ultimate fishing excursion in Puerto Rico!
  • Win Free Tickets To The Rolling Stones In Chicago!
    The Rolling Stones are back! The “50 and Counting” Tour comes to Chicago on Monday, June 3 at United Center! Tickets are still available for the 3 night engagement through Ticketmaster. Enter below for your chance to win a […]

Music Videos

Rattlesnake
Way Of The Eagle
VEVO
Rattlesnake (Trailer)
Way Of The Eagle
VEVO
Discovery (Trailer)
Empire Of The Sun
VEVO
One Little River
Clare Bowditch
VEVO
Get Weird (Explicit)
Fake Shark Real Zombie
VEVO
Paint It Gold
Fake Shark Real Zombie
VEVO
Young & Lazy
The Matinée
VEVO
I Can't Get Tomorrow
White Ash Falls
VEVO
Escape Artist
The Zolas
VEVO
When We Fell
Hot As Sun
VEVO
Entertainment
Phoenix
VEVO
The Bait
Electric Guest
VEVO
Handshake
Two Door Cinema Club
VEVO