For more than 40 years, John Mellencamp has looked over his left shoulder on stage to see a familiar face, that of guitarist Mike Wanchic.
Actually, familiarity is a theme that runs through Mellencamp鈥檚 band, as many of the musicians have been with him 20 years or longer.
鈥淭he whole band has pretty much had a chance to mature with him and ripen into this wonderful musical machine you can鈥檛 get by just hiring new players every tour or to record in the studio,鈥� said Wanchic, in a recent interview with Black Press.
Mellencamp is nearing the end of his Sad Clowns & Hillbillies two-year global tour, with a concert swing across Canada from Sept. 26 to Nov. 14 including a show in 麻豆精选 on Nov. 10 at Prospera Place.
RELATED: John Mellencamp to play 麻豆精选
Mellencamp is no stranger to the Okanagan having performed in 麻豆精选 and Penticton in past years, and Wanchic says he personally can鈥檛 wait to get back.
鈥淭he Okanagan is so beautiful, that whole side of the Rockies is just incredible. I鈥檓 actually bringing my wife up for that part of the tour,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or me, I鈥檝e checked your part of the country out extensively over the years, I had a former manager who lived there and I鈥檝e made records at Bryan Adams鈥� recording studio in Vancouver.鈥�
Wanchic, like Mellencamp and many of his bandmates, hails from Indiana, and they follow the singer鈥檚 lead in bringing a mid-west U.S. work ethic to their music craft, which he defines as creating something new everyday.
鈥淚 think we had the opportunity to develop the way we did because we weren鈥檛 living in a vacuum. We were not living in Hollywood like a lot of other bands in the 鈥�80s and doing the scene with the big hair and fancy pants and sh*t like that.
鈥淲e grew up devoid of that stuff so we were able to focus on our music, explore other musical influences like the banjo and violin, and mix those instruments in with our rock鈥檔鈥檙oll sound.鈥�
Wanchic described the Mellencamp songwriting method as him coming to the band with a song he鈥檇 play on an acoustic guitar, and the band takes his lyrics and works out the musical score.
鈥淲e turn it into something much bigger and artful version of what John has played for us and we do what鈥檚 best to serve the song,鈥� he said.
Like many of his fans, Wanchic strongly identifies with Mellencamp鈥檚 songwriting themes of family and aging in life. 鈥淭hose songs resonate with me because like John, I have five kids of my own,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hose themes in his songs mean something to all of us.
鈥淲e used to joke when we were younger, in our 30s and big-ass rock stars, we鈥檇 look at each other and hope we鈥檇 make it to 40. Then we thought it would be damn nice to make it to 50. Now we just want to keep playing until we can鈥檛 do it anymore.鈥�
He cites Check It Out as one of his favourites and feels the song Minutes To Memories from the Scarecrow album in 1985 is perhaps the best song Mellencamp has ever written.
鈥淏ob Dylan has said that Longest Day is one of the greatest songs he鈥檚 ever heard so when someone like Dylan says that, that says a lot about that song as well.鈥�
Wanchic says he never tires of playing Mellencamp鈥檚 hits because of the reaction from the audience and the boundless enthusiasm the 66-year-old brings to each performance.
鈥淥ur audience is our legacy and we owe everything to them so you have to deliver and you have to be grateful to have that audience. John believes that and so do we. They helped put some of my kids through college and do everything I鈥檝e been able to do in this business. We don鈥檛 want to be complacent and just keep live off our laurels.鈥�
With the influence of technology in the recording studio, Wanchic has even greater pause to realize how fortunate he is to still earn a living as a guitar player.
鈥淚 was talking to a musician friend of mine who lives in Los Angeles and he was telling me about going to a birthday party in Beverley Hills. There were rappers, rap music producers and hip hop performers there. He got to chatting with some of those guys and came to the realization that not one of them actually played an instrument. They relied on computer loops and samples to write music.鈥�
But he still remains optimistic the era of the garage band, playing instruments together and honing their skill as musicians won鈥檛 die.
鈥淚 think there is going to be a renaissance of people playing live with real instruments because it is an art form,鈥� he said.
