Mike Campbell's legacy as part of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is secure, but he is forging new path with own band
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'It's a compliment, but my intention is to find my own voice, which I have,' he says. 'I have a lot of the same inflections and cadences as Tom because we grew up in the same part of Florida. I consciously made an effort to not sound like him the best I can. Sometimes I do anyway, but mostly I sound like myself now.'
While Campbell's journey with Petty – outlined in his recent book Heartbreaker: A Memoir – is what he is best known for, it's hardly the entire story. Campbell also worked with Don Henley, co-writing The Heart of the Matter and Boys of Summer; worked extensively with Stevie Nicks, co-writing her hit Stop Draggin' My Heart Around with Petty; and played on Bob Dylan records such as Empire Burlesque and Knocked Out Loaded.
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Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Runnin' down a dream
After decades of performing in sold-out arenas and playing with some of the biggest musicians of all times, Mike Campbell is finally savouring the spotlight. At 75 years old, Campbell — a founding member and lead guitarist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers — has upended his quiet nature as the leader of his own band, the Dirty Knobs, and the author of an intimate, best-selling memoir. 'Ninety per cent of music is confidence,' he says over a Zoom call from his hotel room in Grand Rapids, Mich., where the band was preparing to open for Chris Stapleton last Thursday. CHRIS PHELPS PHOTO Mike Campbell has recorded three albums with the Dirty Knobs. 'When I was working with Tom, I was pretty intimidated because he's so good, you know, and he carried the ball a lot and he did a lot of the leadership and lyric writing, so I think I was a little shy or insecure around him. And now I have my own path to follow.' Campbell and the Dirty Knobs — a reference to slang for a broken amp dial, not the phallic usage — play a sold-out show at the Park Theatre Tuesday. Ticket holders can expect a 'hodgepodge of '60s psychedelia' from the band's catalogue, some deep cuts from the Heartbreakers, and a few covers. 'It's never the same thing every night, and even the songs themselves, the arrangements might evolve in the moment depending on the mood — and that's the spontaneity I love,' Campbell says. He brought that same ethos into the studio while recording the Knobs' third album, Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, with bandmates Chris Holt (guitar), Lance Morrison (bass) and Matt Laug (drums). 'I like to play live in the studio. I like to teach them the song and record it before they know it too well so there's happy accidents in the music and a kinetic surprise of discovery,' he says. The 2024 album starts with a thank-you to live audiences and includes collaborations with Stapleton, Lucinda Williams, Graham Nash and former Heartbreakers bandmate Benmont Tench. Campbell formed the Dirty Knobs in the early 2000s as an outlet for his songwriting. After touring with Fleetwood Mac for several years, he restarted the project with a new lineup and the group released its first album in 2020 with a fourth on the way. CHRIS PHELPS PHOTO Mike Campbell played with Tom Petty in Mudcrutch in the 1970s before the Heartbreakers formed. The band has been a labour of love. 'In the Heartbreakers I had it really easy, back there playing guitar while Tom did all the work,' he says, adding Petty's style of band leadership has been a major influence on his own. 'It's a role I really am enjoying, and also writing the lyrics for the songs, which I never did in the past. It's a new frontier for me and it's just more rewarding.' Autobiography authorship is another new frontier. Campbell worked with writer Ari Surdoval to craft Heartbreaker: A Memoir, which debuted as a New York Times bestseller in March. The book charts Campbell's rags-to-riches story growing up poor in Jacksonville, Fla., and includes details of his sometimes fraught relationship with Petty and his work with Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Don Henley. His goal was not to write a salacious 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll' memoir, but an honest testimony of a lucky journey. Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. 'I'm just a blessed person; my whole life has been doors opening for me,' he says, adding that revisiting the past was both nostalgic and cathartic. 'It was maybe a little healing in some ways to relive some of the not-so-happy moments and feel those feelings again and process where I am now.' This week, Campbell and the Dirty Knobs return to the Canadian leg of the band's North American tour. It's a road trip he's been looking forward to. 'I love Canada. I'm happy to be up there getting a break from my country for a while,' he says. Eva WasneyReporter Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva. Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Edmonton Journal
11-06-2025
- Edmonton Journal
Mike Campbell's legacy as part of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is secure, but he is forging new path with own band
Article content 'It's a compliment, but my intention is to find my own voice, which I have,' he says. 'I have a lot of the same inflections and cadences as Tom because we grew up in the same part of Florida. I consciously made an effort to not sound like him the best I can. Sometimes I do anyway, but mostly I sound like myself now.' While Campbell's journey with Petty – outlined in his recent book Heartbreaker: A Memoir – is what he is best known for, it's hardly the entire story. Campbell also worked with Don Henley, co-writing The Heart of the Matter and Boys of Summer; worked extensively with Stevie Nicks, co-writing her hit Stop Draggin' My Heart Around with Petty; and played on Bob Dylan records such as Empire Burlesque and Knocked Out Loaded.
Calgary Herald
05-06-2025
- Calgary Herald
Mike Campbell's legacy as part of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is secure, but he is forging new path with the Dirty Knobs
Mike Campbell's music will inevitably be compared to that of his friend and former musical partner, the late Tom Petty. Article content As part of the Heartbreakers, Campbell was Petty's guitarist and frequent co-writer for decades, but he was also a chief architect in creating Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' signature sounds. He co-wrote many of the hits, including Here Comes My Girl, Refugee and Runnin' Down a Dream. He co-produced some of the band's classic albums, such as Southern Accents and Into the Great Wide Open. He even co-produced all of Petty's solo albums: Full Moon Fever, Wildflowers and Highway Companion. Article content Article content But the connection goes back to their shared roots. Article content Article content 'Tom and I had the same influences, grew up in the same part of the country and had the same type of relatives and this and that,' says Campbell, in an interview with Postmedia. 'So we were kind of cut from the same cloth.' Article content So while Campbell's singing voice may have been influenced by other singers – there is some Graham Parker and Bob Dylan in there – there is invariably some overlap with Petty in both the voice and songwriting. Article content 'It's a compliment, but my intention is to find my own voice, which I have,' he says. 'I have a lot of the same inflections and cadences as Tom because we grew up in the same part of Florida. I consciously made an effort to not sound like him the best I can. Sometimes I do anyway, but mostly I sound like myself now.' Article content While Campbell's journey with Petty – outlined in his recent book Heartbreaker: A Memoir – is what he is best known for, it's hardly the entire story. Campbell also worked with Don Henley, co-writing The Heart of the Matter and Boys of Summer; worked extensively with Stevie Nicks, co-writing her hit Stop Draggin' My Heart Around with Petty; and played on Bob Dylan records such as Empire Burlesque and Knocked Out Loaded. Article content Article content In 2018, Campbell and Crowded House leader Neil Finn replaced Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac for a world tour. Article content It's an impressive resume, of course, but Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs placed the veteran is a relatively new role. The band has been around for quite some time, beginning as a side project that would play gigs around Los Angeles while Campbell was still with the Heartbreakers. It wasn't until after Petty died in 2017 that Campbell began recording with the band. Their debut, Wreckless Abandon, came out in 2020 and was followed by 2022's External Combustion and 2024's Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits. Article content A new album is already finished, but Campbell is still touring behind Vagabonds, which brings him to Calgary's Bella Concert Hall on June 19. Article content 'With the Dirty Knobs, I'm the leader,' Campbell says. 'I have to be at the microphone, I have to sing, I have to remember lyrics, I have to sing on pitch, I have to lead the band, I have to do all my guitar stuff. There are a lot more moving parts up there being in the band, but I really enjoy it.'
