MELLENBASH

When singer-songwriter Aaron Persinger was a second-grader, he told the kids on his school bus one morning to "quit all that macho shit and learn to play," a throwback to a John Mellencamp song he'd heard his parents playing.\nIt was the first time the 7-year-old had gotten in trouble -- but it was worth it.\nVisit Persinger in his tiny hometown of Brownstown, Ind., and he'll give you a tour. \nHe'll take you down the main drag and through town, but he won't stop at his favorite diner. \nInstead, he'll continue 10 miles up the road to Seymour, and show you where Mellencamp's "Wild Night" video was shot.\nPersinger will take you inside the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts, which Mellencamp rents to the nonprofit arts organization for $1 per year.\nAnd he'll show you where he studied guitar with several Mellencamp bandmates before retreating to his childhood farm.\nIn fact, as he reflects on his 26 years, he says John Mellencamp has "just always been there."\nThis weekend, Persinger will join other Mellencamp faithfuls to pay tribute to the Seymour native and folk music demigod in the first annual Mellenbash, sponsored by Budweiser, Clarion Music and Farm Aid.\nThe festival is the Bloomington complement to Seymour's Mellenfest. It's usually an annual event, but this year, Mellencamp is touring, throwing a hitch in the routine. \nAnd because Mellencamp performed in Farm Aid last weekend, Mellenfest organizers found it impossible to plan the event. \nEnter local band No Net and organizer Kevin Plummer. Last spring, Plummer was hanging out with Mellencamp keyboardist Moe Z and bassist Toby Myers, who now perform in No Net, at Myers' house outside Nashville, Ind. They started talking about Mellencamp, and the musicians realized the singer's 50th birthday was coming up in October. \nThey wanted to pay tribute to the man that has so directly influenced their music for years, Plummer says, so they decided to put together a "local get together" joining a few Bloomington-area acts for some Mellencamp covers. Soon "some" became 21 in number.\nSeveral bands included in the lineup have recorded at Echo Park Studios in Bloomington, which represents Mellencamp and his band. Some performers have connections to Mellencamp; some have partied with him and a few say they know him well, having played with him for decades on the road.\nBut all recognize he "only turns 50 once in his lifetime," Plummer says. They're prepped to kick back for some informal jam sessions in Bloomington, and each act has chosen a Mellencamp number to cover.\nNashville act The Early Evening has chosen "Rain on the Scarecrow," one of Mellencamp's numbers he played at last weekend's Farm Aid benefit.\nGuitarist/vocalist George Daeger says he "knows all about growing up in a small farming community," and he's surprised another band didn't get to the song first.\n"We just wanted to pick one that meant something to us, not necessarily a radio hit, but good song,"\nDaeger says. "This will be fun to do for us."\nHailing from North Vernon, Ind., Daeger was faced with a barrage of Mellencamp hits "every time I turned on the radio," he says. The Early Evening's music bears much resemblance to the music he listened to as a child -- including the Beatles and Beach Boys albums shelved away in his mother's record collection, and later, Led Zeppelin and the Doors -- but it's the lesser-known tunes that appeal most to him.\nThe band, consisting of Daeger on vocals and acoustic guitar, Dave Daeger on vocals and lead guitar, Matt Sutphin on bass, Patrick Riddle on keyboards and Jonathan Surratt on drums, agrees that Mellencamp was engrained in their childhood, a regular staple on local radio frequencies.\nMellencamp's music "represents the Midwest," Daeger says -- and that's "pretty much what we are."\nDaeger describes the band's style as "rootsy" and "organic" -- strongly reminiscent of Mellencamp's music. They rely heavily on vocals and acoustic instruments and tout Mellencamp's lyrical style as a standard they strive to emulate.\n"His music's got great lyrics," Daeger says. "It shows us if a guy from a small town can just work really hard and go after what he wants, he can succeed."\nInspired by Mellencamp's small-town success story, the band moved to Nashville, Tenn. Daeger's brother Tim currently attends Belmont University in Nashville, so booking usually revolves around his academic schedule, but band members are undaunted.\nThey've slowly built their fan base, and their current studio effort is a far cry from playing on downtown Nashville streetcorners to enlist support. They're currently touring the Midwest and South, drumming up support and bringing their "wild and crazy" live show to intimate venues throughout the region.\nThe night before Mellenbash, The Early Evening will play a Knoxville venue -- but they say they'll be ready.\n"Bloomington will be fun, and anyone that takes time out to listen will enjoy us," he says. "And it'll be good to play so close to John's home."\nOrganizers say Bloomington has needed a Mellencamp event for years. Mellencamp currently owns property on Lake Monroe, a few miles outside town, and has been known to stroll into Nick's English Hut on occasion to strum a few bars on a battered guitar. \n"Every year, Mellenfest is in Seymour," Plummer says. "But just because 'Small Town' is written about Seymour doesn't mean that's where John lives anymore. He pays taxes in Bloomington, and we need to pay tribute to merchants in Bloomington as well."\nThe C4 band, featuring guitar guru Michael Angelo, will play Saturday on the event's main stage. The band, composed of Angelo, Dan Lenegar, Dan Buckley and John Mrozek, began playing in the July 2000 Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisc.\nPerforming as guests of Kenny Wayne Shepherd on the Summerfest main stage, Angelo and Buckley discovered an instant kinship and, enlisting drummer Mrozek to keep the beat, began collaborating on Angelo's new solo CD shortly thereafter.\n"What started out as a project turned into a band," Angelo says, and since that recording, the C4 band has expanded considerably, headlining the House of Blues and the Hard Rock Cafe. \nThey term themselves the "four generals," with each musician putting in equal manpower recording and promoting the act.\nAnd on Saturday, C4 will do what they do best -- perform live. \n"We do not take the audience for granted," Angelo says. "I was performing in the country of Turkey a few years ago and a good friend of mine there told me something that in my opinion was profound -- he said that you build your fan base one fan at a time."\nEvent sponsors are giving away a Tradition Michael Angelo signature series guitar signed by Mellencamp and Angelo. Originally, all proceeds from concert giveaways were designated for Farm Aid, which benefits family farmers in the Midwest, and the Southern Indiana Center of the Arts in Seymour, both favorite charities of Mellencamp. A portion of those funds will now benefit the New York chapter of the American Red Cross to aid disaster relief.