John Mellencamp has signed on for Sing Me Back Home: The Music of Merle Haggard All-Star Celebration on April 6th at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
He joins a lineup that includes Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, Hank Williams Junior, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alison Krauss, The Avett Brothers, Ronnie Dunn, Warren Haynes, Lucinda Williams and many others. The concert celebrates what would have been Haggard's 80th birthday and the first anniversary of his death -- both having occurred on April 6th.
In other John Mellencamp news, he's donated one of his paintings to the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Titled "Beautiful Disaster,” it's dedicated to Mellencamp’s brother Ted, who died last year. The painting features lyrics from the Guthrie song “Johnny Hart” in the background.
Mellencamp taped an episode of CMT Crossroads with Darius Rucker last Friday in Nashville. No word yet on when it will air.