John Mellencamp [ tickets ], currently in the midst of a 10-day family camping trip with his wife and two children, has been interrupting his vacation to make surprise appearances in city parks and squares along the way.

By press time, Mellencamp had played impromptu shows in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston and Cleveland. According to Mellencamp’s official website, he plans to do a total of six or seven performances. Though his management is not giving advance notice of the performances to the public, the information has generally been posted to the website two hours before each appearance.

Mellencamp is telling reporters that he isn’t promoting anything. “I don’t have a new album,” he told USA Today. “We’re not selling T-shirts. Nobody’s sponsoring this. It’s not about the money. It’s about giving back to the fans that have supported me for 25 years.”

In Pittsburgh, Mellencamp turned up at Market Square with a fiddler and accordion player and played a one-hour set for a crowd of about 1,000, according to the Post-Gazette. Mellencamp reportedly isn’t alerting police or getting permits to perform; if police ask Mellencamp to cease his set and move on, he will.

“I'm just playing for the people,” Mellencamp reportedly told the crowd in Pittsburgh. “That's all I'm doing. I don't want the newspapers writing that 'he was out promoting his new record.' I've charged enough playing over the past 25 years."

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