Ep. 28: The Continuing Echo of Tom Petty Lives Through Mike Campbell -  and Many Others

The continuing story of the the echoing Influence of Tom Petty...and how Mike Campbell has taken that influence and made some magic.

I hear lots of bands than dig for that bit of Petty magic within their sound. The Wild Feathers. American Aquarium. Turnpike Troubadours. Eddie Vedder. Cody Canada. Band of Heathens. Petty left us too early. His influence has stayed. I thought it would but you never know. Some artists just have louder echoes. And now, Heartbeakers guitarist and his band, Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs, have an album out - released in early 2022 called External Combustion. Petty fans should rejoice. It rocks, in a Petty and the Heartbreakers way. A good way - with the echoes of the sounds of Torpedoes and Wildflowers.

People hear the Petty songs and think they're basic. Why? Hell, Petty songs and singles were on the radio in a time when radio was king and queen and prince. They got your soul, one hit at a time. When I go to the radio or a Spotify playlist that a fragment of melody, line of lyrics, or chord change that will be a line back to something from Petty - his influence - from a generation of rock and pop stars that were raised on his music.

Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs. They have a second album. It’s pretty damn good. Mike has found his voice. It is the voice that helped blend with Tom’s voice for 40 years and it is evident that he was a huge piece of that sound, and the two growing up and writing songs for all those years gave each a part of each other’s musical soul. On External Combustion - his voice is stronger. Crisper. Tweaked a tiny bit higher in the mix. It works.

We listen to Petty's influence in the album, and with other music too. It's a good sound. A sound that deserves to live on.

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