Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs

After more than 20 years as lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell stepped out on his own with a side project, the Dirty Knobs, and waited almost another 20 years before recording their music and releasing it to the public. Playing raucous rock & roll with a ragged but right feel, the Dirty Knobs' debut album, 2020's Wreckless Abandon, saw Campbell and his bandmates beginning with the anthemic sound of his work with the Heartbreakers, and adding the influence of vintage '60s and '70s sounds (such as the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, and Led Zeppelin), as well as a touch of blues. Campbell moved his name above the Dirty Knobs in the billing for their second album, External Combustion, but the group continued to play rock & roll in the vein of the latter-day Heartbreakers. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, on February 1, 1950, Mike Campbell began playing guitar when he was 16 years old. In 1970, he joined the band Mudcrutch with guitarist and singer Tom Petty and keyboard player Benmont Tench. The group was regionally popular in Florida and Georgia, and after relocating to California in 1974, they signed with Shelter Records. They released just one single for the label that failed to chart before they were dropped, and they broke up in 1975. Campbell had better luck when Petty formed a new group in 1976; he and Tench joined their old bandmate in Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers who, after the release of 1979's Damn the Torpedoes, became one of the most popular rock bands in America. Campbell remained an integral part of the Heartbreakers until the death of Petty in 2017 brought their run to a close. During his periodic downtime from the Heartbreakers, Campbell often shared his talents as a guitarist and songwriter with a variety of well-respected artists, including Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Randy Newman, John Prine, and Johnny Cash. In 2001, Campbell launched a new showcase for his music with a side project, the Dirty Knobs. The initial lineup saw Campbell joined by Jason Sinay, who played in the group Five Easy Pieces, as well as backing up Tift Merritt and Ivan Neville; Ron Blair, the original bassist in the Heartbreakers; and drummer Steve Ferrone, a successful session musician who had also worked with Petty. Though they didn't record, the Dirty Knobs frequently played live when the Heartbreakers weren't busy, usually in and around L.A. With the passage of time, Blair and Ferrone dropped out of the group and bassist Lance Morrison and drummer Matt Laug became their rhythm section. After Petty's death in 2017, Campbell made the Dirty Knobs his first priority, and they began blocking out plans for an album. Their first LP was completed in 2019, and after releasing the track "Wreckless Abandon" in January 2020, they planned to issue the set the following March, followed by a concert tour. However, Campbell was briefly sidelined by a health problem that led to a hospital stay, and the release of the album was postponed. The COVID-19 pandemic soon led to the cancellation of their live dates, and the group virtually assembled to record a new song, "Lockdown II," that spoke with anger about the handling of the crisis; the track was issued in September 2020. The LP, Wreckless Abandon, was finally released in November of that year. Working again with co-producer George Drakoulias, the Dirty Knobs knocked out a second album in the course of three weeks during the summer of 2021. The resulting External Combustion broadened the musical reach of the Dirty Knobs, incorporating a greater reliance on overdubs and '60s pop tricks, along with featuring cameos by Ian Hunter and Margo Price. When the record was released in March 2022, Mike Campbell moved his name above his band's on the credits, so External Combustion was officially credited to Mike Campbell & the Dirty Knobs.
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