In the ‘80s, John Mellencamp took up the template laid down by rockers like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger and crafted his own hitmaking brand of heartland music. Fusing ‘60s influences with a gift for combining guitar lines and lyrics that capture vignettes of small-town America, Mellencamp cut rootsy rock ‘n' roll anthems such as “Pink Houses” and “Jack & Diane”. Down through the decades, his tunes have become more intimate and idiosyncratic, but the Rock Hall of Famer has never lost that salt-of-the-earth appeal.