Seymour natives' part of Mellencamp tribute band performing at City Jam.

Courtesy of The author is Zach Spicer, and The Tribune.

A couple of John Mellencamp tribute bands run through the Seymour native’s hit songs during their shows.

The American Fools Band plays the hits, too, but one thing that makes its shows unique is delving into some of the songs from Mellencamp’s early albums.

“We play mostly the hits because that’s stuff people know, that’s stuff they want to hear. We’re going to give the people what they want,” Seymour native Brian McKenna said. “But the magic is in the Larry Crane years. The guitars are all very Rolling Stones-based, and I didn’t even get into that until I started learning how to play that, especially the first five (albums), ‘John Cougar’ all the way through the ‘Scarecrow’ album.”

Mellencamp doesn’t typically play those early songs during concerts, McKenna said.

“We do, and it’s great to see the diehard Coug fans out here when you bust into like ‘Sugar Marie’ and they are like, ‘Holy moly!’” he said. “It’s really cool. That’s the stuff I like is that early stuff.”

The American Fools Band formed a couple of years ago, and if you haven’t had a chance to attend a show yet, you’re in luck.

They are this month’s act for Seymour Main Street’s summer concert series, City Jam, on Thursday night. The free show will go from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Crossroads Community Park, 101 E. Tipton St., Seymour. Food and drinks will be available for purchase starting at 6 p.m., and series sponsors will have booths set up.

With McKenna and the band’s drummer, Jason Stahl, both being from Seymour and Mellencamp being from that same small town, this show is extra special.

“It is very cool because I like giving back to the community as much as I can, and I don’t get back there as often as I should,” said McKenna, who plays guitar in the band and has lived in Indianapolis since 1990. “I still have some great friends there. My best friend from school is down there. We still talk a couple times a week and try to see each other maybe once every two months. … I hope I get to see a bunch of old friends.”

Stahl, who has lived in Nashville since 2014, said he also is looking forward to seeing friends and faces he recognizes.

“We’re very excited. At the same time, we better be on our A game,” he said. “That’s really how we look at it. It doesn’t get any more historically or in the moment than that.”

McKenna reached out to Seymour Main Street Executive Director Bri Roll a year ago about being part of City Jam, and he was glad the band was chosen to be featured.

“I know I speak for my other Seymourian when I say this is an honor to us to be able to come down there and present a great show that’s well-rehearsed and provide this entertainment to the people that we grew up with,” he said.

“Even more than that, the people we admired growing up — a bunch of the schoolteachers that we had … our coaches and just music teachers — this is us showing them thank you,” he said. “I hope people come out and see it because we’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be able to play, especially in our hometown.”

McKenna graduated from Seymour High School in 1986, and Stahl followed in 1990.

They had been talking off and on in recent years about forming a Mellencamp tribute band. Both were involved in the Indianapolis music scene, so that’s how they initially put the band together.

“We pulled from people that we knew and pieced the band together and just started practicing for many months until we figured out what it needed and so forth,” Stahl said.

Due to some health issues, the original lead singer had to bow out, so Danny Isaacs is now in that role and also plays guitar. Other guitarists are McKenna and Adam Siddiqui, Bryan Chrisman is on bass, Stahl is on drums, Jeff Morris plays keys and percussion and provides backing vocals, Emma King plays fiddle and does backing vocals and her sister, Ella King, plays banjo and accordion and does backing vocals.

“The lineup we have now is super strong, and it should be a good time,” McKenna said. “I’m blessed to be around this group of musicians.”

He and Stahl both have high praise for the King sisters, who grew up in a family of musicians.

“These two girls just floored me,” McKenna said. “They are so talented. They actually get a spot in the second set where it’s just those two. It’s absolutely precious and amazing at the same time.”

Stahl said their harmonies are impeccable.

“Having the real fiddle in there, we’re able to go back and recreate some of those unique arrangements that John had for his live shows,” he said. “There’s a bridge in ‘Small Town’ that we do that is just like John did it back in 1990 and he hasn’t done it since, so those people that really love that time period are really going to appreciate some of the little things that we’ve got in the show.”

So what’s the key to doing Mellencamp songs well? Stahl said really listening is important.

“It’s more than just playing the notes and so forth,” he said. “John is always brilliant in his arrangements. They are totally unique, and we talk to other musicians that end up having to play his stuff, they are like, ‘You never realize how intricate and complicated some of the stuff that he has put together is until you actually have to play it.’ Just really listening to it, taking it apart and doing your absolute best to try to recreate that sound, it’s not easy. It takes a lot of time.”

Growing up listening to Mellencamp’s music, Stahl said it’s special to have a chance to play it live.

“There’s a depth to it because at that point in time, he was really touching sensitive topics and real-world issues that were going on and really forgotten about, and a lot of those were just right in our backyard,” he said. “Before social media and everything, music was the way to convey and get that stuff across.”

Stahl recalled he and his dad visiting the studio when Mellencamp recorded “Lonely Ol’ Night.”

“To be able to actually play that now, it’s full circle, surreal,” he said. “A lot of special memories with all of that music. When you’re a young kid and you don’t have cable television, you’re listening to records all the time. I burned ‘Uh-Huh’ and ‘Scarecrow’ out, so to play all those live now, it’s so much fun.”

McKenna said he was really inspired by what Mellencamp and Crane were doing before they were well-known. He remembers seeing them perform “I Need a Lover” on “American Bandstand.”

“These guys were out there actually doing it before I knew they were famous. They were just regular dudes. They were just my buddy’s older brothers and his friends,” he said. “Then once I saw (their success), I was like, ‘Man, that’s inspiring.’ That made me feel like anybody can do it. If they can do it, why can’t I play? I’ve always thought it was great that they gave everybody in that town a bunch of inspiration for music and everything and the arts.”

Stahl said Mellencamp has always surrounded himself with great musicians, too.

“I’ve talked to a bunch of guys in his band, and before they go on tour, they will practice for almost a full year, like six months to eight months, nine months of five to six days a week eight-hour days,” he said. “That’s why he has always been known for having just the most incredibly tight and polished band ever. He works those guys, and they respond, just a lot of creativity in the live shows.”

The only other show planned this year for the American Fools Band is Sept. 9 at Brown County Playhouse in Nashville.

“It’s more of an indoor listening venue, so we’re excited about that,” Stahl said. “Once you get past the historic façade, the front of it opens up into a massive place. It’s a 400-seat, sunken-down, walk-down-to-the-stage venue with kind of a horseshoe audience, so the stage protrudes out a little bit. It’s really unique.”