Runnin’ down a dream

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This article was published 16/06/2025 (347 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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.

“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.

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.

“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.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com