STEPHEN KING, JOHN MELLENCAMP & T BONE BURNETT’S SUPERNATURAL MUSICAL GHOST
BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY SET FOR RELEASE ON MARCH 19th, 2013
Star-Studded Cast Includes Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Rosanne Cash, Neko
Case, Kris Kristofferson, Dave & Phil Alvin, Taj Mahal, Ryan Bingham, Matthew
McConaughey, Samantha Mathis and Meg Ryan
Hear Music/Concord Music Group is proud to release the all-star recording of
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a southern gothic supernatural musical from
co-conspirators Stephen King, John Mellencamp and T Bone Burnett. This
extraordinary collaboration features original music and lyrics plus key dialog
excerpts performed by a stellar cast of guest artists including Elvis Costello,
Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Neko Case, Taj Mahal, Ryan Bingham and Kris
Kristofferson, along with actors Matthew McConaughey, Samantha Mathis and Meg
Ryan. This special release also includes the musical’s complete libretto, penned
by Stephen King. A haunting tale of fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge
13 years in the making, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County will be released on
March 19th, 2013.
The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County saga began when Mellencamp told King
about a cabin on his land in Indiana where two brothers had gotten in a fight
over a girl; one brother accidentally killing the other, only to die along with
the girl in a car crash a short time later. King came up with an outline for a
play in a matter of days. And then off and on, back and forth, they began to
develop it into a full-length musical.
The superb blues ‘n’ roots music of Ghost Brothers reflects the wide range of
styles and influences needed for a work that jumps back and forth across
decades. Rather than use the songs to propel the play’s narrative, as in a
conventional musical, Mellencamp chose to make them a way to reveal the emotions
and inner workings of the characters—like Neko Case’s exquisite, unapologetic
delivery of “That’s Who I Am;” the intense passion of Kristofferson’s “How Many
Days;” or Costello’s cunning “That’s Me,” which establishes the persona of “The
Shape,” the Puck-like devil figure at the heart of Ghost Brothers who floats
between the worlds of the living and the spirits. Numerous other highlights
include the thunderous, dramatic ensemble piece “Tear This Cabin Down” and “Jukin,’”
a grease-laden delta-rocker performed by Sheryl Crow. Mellencamp himself
delivers the closing “Truth,” a sublime meditation on the moral issues
underpinning the action.
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County will be available across a variety of
formats. The (enhanced CD) Standard Edition features the complete soundtrack,
dialog excerpts and digital libretto. The (2CD/1DVD) Deluxe Edition contains the
complete soundtrack (with and without dialog), deluxe art work, handwritten
lyrics, specially printed libretto and the “Making of Ghost Brothers”
mini-documentary DVD featuring in-depth interviews with King, Mellencamp and
Burnett along with other bonus material. Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
digital editions for tablets, smartphones and e-readers will allow users to
interact in unprecedented ways with the complete soundtrack + digital libretto,
as well as exclusive video and graphic materials.
Set in the tiny town of Lake Belle Reve, Mississippi, the Ghost Brothers’
story centers on two sets of brothers: the ghosts of Jack and Andy, dead in an
apparent murder/suicide, and their nephews, the living Frank and Drake, who seem
to be headed toward the same downward spiral as their uncles. Joe, younger
brother of Jack and Andy, father of Frank and Drake, has decided it’s time to
reveal his own terrible secret at the site of the tragedy, before it’s too late.
Though some of the songs were written without knowing where they would fit in
the script, most were the result of specific assignments. “Steve would call me
up and go, ‘We need a song like this to fill this place,’” Mellencamp says. “To
be able to go, ‘OK, now you’re a 10-year-old boy, what would he say? Now you’re
a 19-year-old girl trying to attract the attention of a barroom of fellas’…that
was just fun to do.”
Once a working show had been assembled, producer Burnett—acclaimed for his
work on such albums as Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and the O
Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack—was brought in to help unify the flow and
feel of the music on stage. Burnett would also prove crucial when it came time
to cast and record the Ghost Brothers album.
He started with the voice of “The Shape”—“immediately, Elvis Costello came
up,” says Burnett, “who could be better playing the devil?” Rosanne Cash struck
the producer as a match for Monique, Joe’s troubled wife, as did Kris
Kristofferson’s unmistakable scratchy baritone to play the patriarch himself.
As the story emerged, it became clear to the collaborators that Ghost Brothers
had taken them into unfamiliar territory—and they liked it that way. "John can
make rock & roll records and I can write books for the rest of our lives," says
King, "but that’s the safe way to do it, and that’s no way to live if you want
to stay creative. We were willing to be educated, and at our age, that’s an
accomplishment."
The highly successful original production of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County,
staged by Atlanta’s well-regarded Alliance Theatre, premiered in the spring of
2012. Additional productions of the musical will be mounted in the coming year
GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY
-Libretto by Stephen King
-Music & Lyrics by John Mellencamp
-Musical Direction by T Bone Burnett
-Featured cast: Kris Kristofferson, Meg Ryan,
Matthew McConaughey, Samantha Mathis, Elvis Costello
-Featured musicians: Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Phil Alvin,
Kris Kristofferson, Taj Mahal, Neko Case, Dave Alvin, Rosanne
Cash, John Mellencamp
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County track listing:
1. That’s Me ‒ Elvis Costello
2. That’s Who I Am ‒ Neko Case
3. So Goddamn Smart ‒ Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Sheryl Crow
4. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong About Me ‒ Elvis Costello
5. Brotherly Love – Ryan Bingham and Will Dailey
6. How Many Days ‒ Kris Kristofferson
7. You Are Blind ‒ Ryan Bingham
8. Home Again ‒ Sheryl Crow, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Taj Mahal
9. What’s Going On Here – Rosanne Cash
10. My Name Is Joe ‒ Clyde Mulroney
11. Tear This Cabin Down ‒ Taj Mahal
12. And Your Days Are Gone ‒ Sheryl Crow, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin
13. Jukin’ – Sheryl Crow
14. What Kind Of Man Am I ‒ Kris Kristofferson, Phil Alvin, Sheryl Crow Dave
Alvin, Taj Mahal
15. So Goddamn Good ‒ Phil Alvin, Dave Alvin, Sheryl Crow
16. Away From This World - Sheryl Crow
17. Truth – John Mellencamp
www.ghostbrothersofdarklandcounty.com
