Mike Campbell, the longtime lead guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, has revealed that he’s planning to play a special set honoring the late Petty at an upcoming show by his current group The Dirty Knobs.
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This past Tuesday (October 3) marked the sixth anniversary of Petty’s untimely death, and Campbell took to social media to pay homage to his friend and bandmate, as well as to discuss the tribute he was preparing, which will coincide with what would’ve been Petty’s 73rd birthday.
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“It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since we lost our friend and leader,” Campbell wrote. “I miss him dearly, as I know you all do. I find comfort and catharsis playing songs we wrote and recorded together on stage, and I thank you all for allowing me that opportunity.”
Campbell continued, “On Friday, October 20, which is also Tom’s birthday, The Dirty Knobs and I are playing [The Bellwether] in Los Angeles…and we want to do something special. The Dirty Knobs will perform a set of our music followed by a set of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers music, dedicated to our brother Tom on his birthday.”
Campbell also pointed out that longtime Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone has been playing drums with The Dirty Knobs for the group’s entire current tour, and he’ll also be behind the kit for the October 20 gig.
Added Campbell, “I hope you’ll join us for what will no doubt be a spiritual and celebratory evening.”
The Dirty Knobs’ Bellwether concert is the next-to-last show on the band’s 2023 tour, which wraps up on October 21 at the Sugar Pine Festival in Grass Valley, California. Prior to the L.A. gig, the group has a run of performances in the Southern U.S. that will include a few headlining shows and several appearances at Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour.
The Dirty Knobs have been Campbell’s main musical outlet in recent years. Since 2020, the band has toured extensively and has released two studio albums, Wreckless Abandon (2020) and External Combustion (2022). The group usually includes several Petty songs in their sets. Visit TheDirtyKnobs.com to check out all of the upcoming dates.
Meanwhile, Campbell and Ferrone, as well as a couple of other Dirty Knobs members and Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, recently backed Bob Dylan at the folk-rock legend’s surprise three-song set at the 2023 Farm Aid benefit concert on September 23 in Noblesville, Indiana. Petty and the Heartbreakers previously had served as Dylan’s backing band for his 1985-1986 True Confessions Tour, although Ferrone wasn’t a member of the group at that time.
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