While they may never have specifically been in Estevan at any point, John Mellencamp and his band are no strangers to places this size.聽
Mellencamp himself expressed his appreciation for small towns like Estevan 鈥� the song Small Town from 1985 album Scarecrow is close to a national anthem for rural Canada 鈥� and it鈥檚 more than just talk. He and many of his band live in and around Bloomington, Indiana, which is not much bigger than Estevan.
鈥淥n one side of me right now is a cattle farm and on the other side of me is a cattle farm,鈥� laughed Mike Wanchic, Mellencamp鈥檚 longtime guitarist, co-producer and friend. 鈥淎nd behind me is 2,000 acres of unbroken timberland. I live in a rural area in a log house. I think where you live is the perfect audience for me.鈥�
Mellencamp is bringing the Sad Clowns & Hillbillies tour to Estevan鈥檚 Affinity Place Friday in what is likely to be a packed house of appreciative fans. Wanchic has been there since the beginning, and stayed when a series of stage name changes took Johnny Cougar to John Cougar to John Cougar Mellencamp, to today鈥檚 John Mellencamp.聽
鈥淲e made a very conscious choice at about 1980 not to move to Los Angeles,鈥� Wanchic said. 鈥淢anagement was in L.A. and they said 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 stay in Indiana, this is where the music business is. And we just didn鈥檛 want to do it. Number one, if we had we would just not exist today鈥�. You tend to start morphing into your peers and I鈥檇 hate to think we ended up like RATT (a heavy metal band from the 1980s).鈥�
Staying in Bloomington was an important decision for the band. They decided after 1982, when they had the album American Fool that they hadn鈥檛 approached their music any differently but the audiences were getting bigger. Wanchic said they felt it was because some of their people were shallow and just looking for the next big thing.
鈥淚t stamped in our mind that we were never going to leave,鈥� Wanchic said. 鈥淪o we built a studio here and made our records here ever since then. There鈥檚 no reason to move anywhere. I mean, why? What鈥檚 my advantage to moving to Los Angeles, California? Nothing personal against Los Angeles, but there鈥檚 higher stress and bad air. We live in a beautiful place. Why would we go anywhere?鈥�
While there was a moment when they enjoyed the benefits of stardom, coming home to Bloomington also keeps the band grounded and rebalanced.
鈥淵ou go to the gym and play basketball with the same guys who will knock your teeth out,鈥� Wanchic said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 care who you are鈥� it鈥檚 a balancer and I think it鈥檚 always been that way. That鈥檚 what allowed us to make 23 records instead of three. John鈥檚 a really dedicated songwriter who works on his craft every day and we work on our craft every day.鈥�
Long ago, Mellencamp and his band could have simply chosen the nostalgia tour route and played nothing but music he鈥檚 released from the mid 70s to the early 90s but they鈥檝e been busy releasing five full length albums since 2007. The hunger to create new material is clearly still pumping through the veins of Mellencamp and his band.
鈥淎ge discrimination in my business is massive,鈥� Wanchic said. 鈥淎t what point did Paul Simon cease to be a good songwriter? Bob Dylan? Why suddenly if you add 15 years to your life, you鈥檙e suddenly no longer a viable artist. That鈥檚 bull (expletive). John鈥檚 a better writer now than he鈥檚 ever been and we鈥檙e better players than we鈥檝e ever been. I really have resentment toward the music business in the way that it glorifies youth鈥� That鈥檚 a driver to keep making records and continue to develop your art. The audience is smaller but that鈥檚 not what it鈥檚 about at this point. It鈥檚 about art.鈥�
With that said, Mellencamp was a deserving 2008 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and he and the band know that fans want to hear his classics.
鈥淲e look at our entire catalogue when we set our tour in motion and you have to pay homage to the hits, there鈥檚 no question about that,鈥� Wanchic said. 鈥淲henever I see Neil Young, who I鈥檝e seen 20 times, I want to hear Cinnamon Girl, I want to hear the great songs, like Old Man. And I personally, even as a professional artist, I feel cheated if I don鈥檛 hear those鈥� Music is one of the greatest drivers of memory, and we know that. So there鈥檚 a lot of hits.聽 But at the same time we have so many records that we think are brilliant records, if we do say so ourselves, and we handpick material from as many records as we can possibly fit. Not everybody鈥檚 going to hear every song that they want to hear but it鈥檚 not just a Beach Boys show. We鈥檙e drawing from 10 albums during this show.鈥�
That includes solo acoustic songs with Mellencamp only to full on re-arrangements with the full band of his most well-known hits. A recent stop in Thunder Bay, Ont. included Small Town, Lonely Ol鈥� Night, Check It Out, Jack & Diane, Crumblin鈥� Down, Pink Houses and Cherry Bomb, among other huge hits and recent songs.聽
鈥淚 think our audience should be really pleased and it covers 40 years,鈥� Wanchic said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a balancing line we鈥檝e learned over the years to walk. It creates an air of excitement for us because we need to be excited about what we鈥檙e doing. It鈥檚 easy to become complacent when all you鈥檙e doing is parroting hit records. What鈥檚 the point of that? You want a quick way to end our career? Do that.鈥�
From the time when Mellencamp refused to let Ronald Reagan use the song Pink Houses on his 1984 re-election campaign to the current Donald Trump era of politics, Mellencamp hasn鈥檛 shied away from letting his feelings known about the state of his country.
鈥淚t鈥檚 mildly reflected in the show because we鈥檙e not trying to soap-box, but there will be comments here and there,鈥� Wanchic said. 鈥淲e continue to support the politicians and the policies in this country that we think are relevant, particularly Farm Aid.鈥�
The annual farm benefit show took place this year in Hartford, Conn., and Mellencamp has been there with Willie Nelson and Neil Young almost every year since the first one in 1985 with the intention of helping farmers facing mortgage debt.聽
