Mellencamp tour revisits singer's life

Put on your shoes and grab your car keys. Hop in your car and head to the Jackson County Visitor Center to check out the John Mellencamp Audio Driving Tour, “Roots of An American Rocker.”

Listen as The Last Exit and scenes from Mellencamp’s movie “Falling From Grace” come to life through the memories of his family and friends who add personal touches to their stories of knowing Seymour’s own rock ’n’ roll legend.

“They can tell a story that no one else can,” said Tina Stark, executive director of the Jackson County Visitor Center on the importance of getting Mellencamp’s family and friends involved with the tour.

The audio tour is selling well since it went on sale in 2009, Stark said Wednesday.

The project has been in the works for more than five years.

“It was originally just the brochure, but we were looking for a way to creatively put together a new experience for our visitors,” Stark said. She said the CD offers information the listener could not have gotten anywhere else and more personal information about Mellencamp.

Those lending their memories and stories about Mellencamp are his mother, brother, sister, former teacher, friends and former girlfriends.

The tour is narrated by Dan Osborne and features 16 of Mellencamp’s hit songs, including “Small Town,” “Human Wheels” and “R.O.C.K. In the USA.” Stops include Larrison’s Diner, Schneck Medical Center, Seymour High School, John’s Boyhood Home, Emerson Elementary School, First Presbyterian Church, Shields Junior High School, P.J.’s House, Dakota Ridge, Rockford Ridge, Rok-Sey Roller Rink, Southern Indiana Center for the Arts, Grandma Laura’s and One Chamber Square.

Stark said Mellencamp is one of the larger attractions to the area, according to information from the visitor center’s Web site at www.jacksoncountyin.com. She said she thinks the driving tour will bring more tourism to the area.

“I think we’ll get additional visitors from outside the county and a lot of local people as well,” she said.

The CD is available for purchase for $13.99 at the Jackson County Visitor Center, 100 N. Broadway St. The CD cannot be shipped out of Indiana because of licensing agreements.

This month, the visitor center debuted the “Tour by Cell Seymour and Jackson County, Indiana” audio tour. The Tour by Cell was created by the 2009 Leadership Jackson County Tourism Group of Chris Franklin, Ben Hudson and Melanie Pumphrey. The tour has 28 stops in the county, including 19 in Seymour. The brochure can be purchased at the visitor center for $2.