For over 40 years, Mike Campbell was an integral member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as their lead guitarist, co-songwriter and co-producer. After Petty died in 2017, Campbell took on a new role in his long musical career: lead singer and leader of his current band Dirty Knobs, which just released its third album, titled Tramps, virgins and misfits.
“I went through a bit of a metamorphosis,” Campbell, 74, tells PEOPLE ahead of the Dirty Knobs tour, which kicked off June 21 in Skokie, Illinois. “[With] Heartbreakers, I had the easiest job in the world and I didn’t know it. Tom did all the work. He was up there directing the circus and I was just sitting there, ‘la-di-da, play guitar here, play guitar there.’ Now [with the Dirty Knobs,] I have to remember the lyrics, sing on the field, lead the band. But I embrace it and get a lot of confidence doing it.”
Tramps, virgins and misfits is a continuation of the classic roots-rock sound that Dirty Knobs – whose latest lineup consists of Campbell, bassist Lance Morrison, guitarist Chris Holt and drummer Matt Laug – have been developing since their debut album in 2020. Wreckless Abandon. Campbell says his goal for the new record was just to write good songs and get better at it.
“It’s all in the songs,” he says. “The direction of the record is defined by the direction the songs go, and they come from wherever they come from. It’s a mystery, but I’m just following the muse.”
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Lyrically, Campbell’s songs are like short stories about other people, not necessarily himself, as on the wistful-sounding “Angel of Mercy” from the new record. “My songs tend to take the form of characters,” he says, “and then I use my own experience to maybe feed the character. ‘Merciful Angel’ is a good example. It talks about desperate people, maladjusted in some bad situation, and the song tries to move them through it to some resolution at the end. This guy [in the song] he fights and hopes that his angel of mercy will bring him home safely.”
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Several well-known artists appear on the new album, including Graham Nash on the highly hopeful “Dare to Dream”; Nash previously appeared on Campbell’s talk show Break on SiriusXM. “Graham Nash was a real godsend for this song,” says Campbell. “He did an interview with me, and I sheepishly asked him, ‘Would you consider singing harmony or something?’ He said, ‘Sure.’ I had already finished the song and I sent it to him, and he sent it back twice as good. I love his voice. So for me it’s like a godsend.”
Another legend, Lucinda Williams, guest stars with Campbell on the reflective ballad “Hell or High Water”. “I finished the song from that guy’s point of view. There’s a story: this guy wanders through the night, gets into a situation and tries to get out of it. Then there is another verse about this girl who is in the story. And I thought if I could find a woman to sing it, it would really make the song better. I asked [Lucinda] and she was very shy about it, but I begged her to do it. And she did the most phenomenal job. She brings so much soul and vulnerability to her voice.”
Stormy rocker “Don’t Wait Up” features Chris Stapleton and Benmont Tench, Campbell’s Heartbreakers bandmate, giving an incredible piano performance. “Chris and I met on the last record [Wreckless Abandon],” says Campbell. “We met and quickly became friends and did some things together. We stayed in touch. I think he was in town winning another Grammy or something, and he had the afternoon off. He stopped by and I happened to have that song. I said, ‘Do you want to sing a verse on this?’ He said, ‘Sure, man.’ So he just jumped in and did it. He is probably the best singer in his genre right now.”
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He adds: “I was so delighted that [Benmont] had time to come and play the piano in one stroke. He plays this great s— all the time.”
Since Campbell and Dirty Knobs are on tour, there’s a good chance they’ll play “The Greatest,” a rock anthem written as a tribute to fans. “It’s a thank you song to the crowd that’s been so nice to us,” says Campbell. “It was written in three minutes — ‘I’d like-to-thank-everyone’ in the song — and then turned [into] this great ‘Strawberry Fields’ kind of cool drone vibe. The song is difficult to perform because of all the harmonies, but we will hold back and try to bring it to the stage.”
Campbell has been busy in addition to running Dirty Knobs – which he also participated in Small country, a tribute album to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers featuring country stars such as Stapleton, Dolly Parton, Brothers Osborne, Wynonna Judd, Luke Combs and Lainey Wilson. For that album, which was released on June 21, Campbell paired with Margo Price on “Ways to Be Wicked,” a song he and Petty originally co-wrote and first recorded in the 1980s by the band Lone Justice.
“I’m really glad that song came out again,” says the guitarist, “because I think it’s a really good song, great lyrics and rock music. Then the village thing appeared and [Margo] thought, ‘Well, I could perform that song.’ And she came and I put some guitar and some harmony on it, and she plays really well. I’m really proud of that song. And she did a great job at it.”
Cherishing the music he made with Petty with the Heartbreakers, Campbell welcomed fronting Dirty Knobs, which began more than 20 years ago as a side project with fellow Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone (who would go on to drum with Dirty Knobs). on this tour) and bassist Ron Blair.
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“So there’s a heartthrob thread,” says Campbell, “and we have that bond between us and all those years of playing with Tom, which we miss terribly…I’ve gotten more confidence with directing [Dirty Knobs], talking to the audience, writing and playing. I really like the role I’m in now. It’s a challenge, but it’s a good challenge.”
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Source: HIS Education