John Mellencamp › It's About You

Wall Street Journal - 01/06/2012
"[T]he real subject of this film, with its philosophical voice-overs by the filmmaker and its haunting shots of decayed American downtowns, is the passage of time and the toll it takes....An odd and touching little film."

Movieline - 01/06/2012
"The result is a kind of homespun video scrapbook....It feels handmade and human."

In 2009, John Mellencamp set out on a summer concert tour with two icons of American music, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. During the course of the tour, Mellencamp and producer T-Bone Burnett recorded the sessions for Mellencamp's 2010 album NO BETTER THAN THIS. The two men struck upon the idea of recording the album using a single microphone and a vintage monophonic tape machine, and performing in historically important settings, including the Sun Studio in Memphis (where Elvis Presley cut his earliest sessions), Room 414 of San Antonio's Gunter Hotel (where Robert Johnson recorded several classic blues tunes), and the First African Baptist Church in Savannah (the first church in North America established by an African-American congregation). As Mellencamp and his band set out on their adventure, he invited along photographer Kurt Markus, who brought his teenage son Ian Markus with him. Kurt and Ian documented the tour and the recording sessions on Super 8 film, and the resulting movie IT'S ABOUT YOU offers a look into the creative process of one of America's most celebrated rock songwriters, as well as a journey that allows a father and son to understand one another in a new way. IT'S ABOUT YOU received its world premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival.

Documentary | Music (General) | Musicians

Genre:

• Documentaries