SMALL FACES

Having contributed a song to the soundtrack of “A Perfect Storm” and wrapped his own starring role as a crime scene photographer in the independent film “After Image,” John Mellencamp is heading to a Key West studio to start work on a new album. This will be Mellencamp’s second for Columbia Records. No release date has been set.

Americana group Ol’ 97s is going into the studio at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studio outside of Austin, Texas, to make its third album. Wally Gagel, who produced the band’s first album, returns for this one, with Tchad Blake (Los Lobos, Latin Playboys) mixing. It’s due early next year.