Today Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac) is guitarist and songwriter for his band The Dirty Knobs. Decades ago however, he felt a miracle had happened: that he and Tom Petty had met and pursued their musical future as a team. Petty could easily have gone solo, but he preferred to stay with Campbell, till the end.
Campbell was Petty’s lead guitarist and co-writer in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Campbell started The Dirty Knobs after Petty died (2017), to be something different from Heartbreakers. Audiences will have a chance to see and hear those departures, as The Dirty Knobs band plays at the Brown County Music Center July 15.
Of The Dirty Knobs, NPR’s Fresh Air said, “songs so good they transcend the (Tom) Petty comparison.”
Attendees will hear about the band’s new record and upcoming performances including Campbell’s return to Farm Aid. Farm Aid is where several haunting appearances from Campbell took place, including with the Heartbreakers and with Bob Dylan at the inaugural concert in 1985.
Bloomington’s John Mellencamp along with Willie Nelson and Neil Young organized Farm Aid’s first concert, to help farm families. Farm Aid is a nonprofit organization that promotes family farm-oriented agriculture in the U.S.In 2023 the Knobs played at Farm Aid again with a surprise set from Dylan alongside Campbell and members of the Heartbreakers.
As of last month, “Mission of Mercy,” the new full-length album from The Dirty Knobs, is out and selling. Campbell performs hits from his career, including tracks by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, arranged for orchestra–and to be performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the Atlanta Symphony Hall this September.
“People you meet establish the path of your life,” Campbell said on the phone. He then mentioned his wife, Marcie Campbell, and Tom Petty. The Campbell couple has been together for more than 50 years. “Marcie and I have a very strong bond,” Mike Campbell said. She knew him before fame hit.
“If I hadn’t met Tom,” Campbell said, “I might have played in a small band.”
Petty’s and Campbell’s personalities differed. “Tom was ambitious to be successful in the music business. He got his fingers in to the business.”
‘Bands are so delicate. Anything can sidestep them’
A satisfying aspect of bands, Campbell said, is the divergence in temperaments. “Bands are so delicate. Anything can sidestep them. I was not going to let that happen to The Heartbreakers.”
As did Petty, Campbell thrived on being part of a band, “liked sharing the experience with the other band members.”
Having come from a broken home, Campbell disliked seeing things unravel. “I’ve been told I was the one who kept us all together. They owe me, those guys.”
Not surprisingly, The Heartbreakers are a hard thing to beat. “I miss Tom terribly. I wonder what he’s thinking. Maybe something like, ‘Go, Mike, You can do a little better.’ ”
Last year Campbell released what became a New York Times Best Selling memoir, his “Heartbreaker.” Rolling Stone said it is “essential…a vividly told new autobiography,” and the Los Angeles Times mentioned its “tale of endurance and patience rewarded.” “No Depression” (roots music journalism organization) said it “does what the best music memoirs do: encourage readers to listen once again, or for the first time, to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and to Campbell’s solo works.”
To purchase the memoir, visit https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/mike-campbell/heartbreaker/9780306833199/.
The Dirty Knobs (slang for a broken amp dial)
The Dirty Knobs (slang for a broken amp dial) began in 2000, founded by Campbell as a writing and club-date project. The Knobs at last got on record with 2020’s “Wreckless Abandon” and 2022’s “External Combustion.” As Tom Petty had told Campbell, the English language permits its users vast creativity. Campbell agrees and enjoys developing rhyme schemes to match the right words. At first rhymes, meter and words eluded him. Today they flow.
“Mission of Mercy” shows Campbell’s songwriting scope, with numbers ranging from uninhibited R&R to an Americana ballad. SPIN Magazine called the album “great.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, “Tom Petty’s right-hand man and his own band are even more dialed in on their fourth studio album.”
Plus, there’s a new animated video, produced by Awesome, Inc. (“Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” “Squidbillies,” “Ren & Stimpy”). Watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55vfI4G1lh8.
The band previously shared the singles “No Regrets” and “I Remember.”
“Mission of Mercy” is Campbell’s fourth Dirty Knobs album and has sounds from the B-52s’ Kate Pierson and Morgane Stapleton alongside the Dirty Knobs’ Chris Holt (guitars, keys), Lance Morrison (bass) and Campbell’s fellow Heartbreaker Steve Ferrone(drums, percussion).
Campbell has, in addition to Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, performed with a variety of big names. A favorite is friend and rock star Stevie Nicks, of whom Campbell said, “It’s working with one of your best friends. Stevie is exciting, funny and has a great voice.”
Campbell’s all out favorite woman, though, is his wife, Marcie Campbell, whom he met after her dog approached him some 50 years ago at a party. The (human) couple chatted, then lost contact with each other later that night. “I went to her friend’s house the next day to ask how I could find her,” he said. “As the friend opened the door, she was holding a phone receiver. She was on with Marcie, who was asking her how to find me!”
If you go
WHAT: Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs
WHEN: 7 p.m. July 15
WHERE: Brown County Music Center, 200 Maple Leaf Blvd., Nashville
TICKETS: Start at $46.80 at browncountymusiccenter.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Tom Petty to Dirty Knobs: Campbell brings own band to Brown County
Reporting by Connie Shakalis, For the Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Connie Shakalis, For the Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
