Singer/songwriter John Mellencamp tuned the guitar of prolific horror author Stephen King when he asked him to write the book for Mellencamp’s musical ghost story, “The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.” (King sidelines with the rock band Rock-Bottom Remainders.) Inspired by his haunted cabin in Indiana, Mellencamp wrote the score, which is available on CD and includes voice acting by Mellencamp’s lady friend Meg Ryan, Elvis Costello, and Kris Kristofferson. Mellencamp claims the score (17 songs!) sounds like “the Sgt. Pepper of Americana.” Goo Goo Goo G’Joob.
Now eleven years in the making, the first performance of Ghost Brothers is scheduled to run this month at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. The show was supposed to premiere back in 2009 but ended up being delayed due to “unspecified script problems”—ghosts, presumably, in the machine. King, 64, has written published 49 novels.
