This past Sunday, John Mellencamp looked different than most churchgoers at Savannah’s First African Baptist Church. It’s not his casual outfit or the fact that he’s a well-known artist that stick out like a sore thumb. There’s another reason. At this historic church, he’s one of the only white attendees. But it isn’t about race at all. That’s not why he was there.
“America should try to work together to be on the same side, and I see that down here in this community,” he said. “I don’t see it with the white people.” John spoke from the pulpit and performed two songs during services.
As a part time Daufuskie Island resident, he took a boat from his home and made the trip to Savannah to play two songs at the church because “I want to,” he said. The church is also where Mellencamp wrote three songs off his 21st album “No Better Than This.” He knew the acoustics were incomparable.
At one point, one of Mellencamp’s friends joked about how he had never been baptized. “Next thing I knew John was standing up here on the platform dressed in a white cotton robe,” she said. Mellencamp recently completed his 77-date tour across North America, which was frequently sold out. But this was the first time he’d done something like this, according to manager Randy Hoffman. See the video below!
Photo: John Mellecamp Facebook