The Tom Petty Project

When author Paul Zollo asks Tom about the song in his book Conversations With Tom Petty, and mentions that the song had been partially written some years previously, Tom confirms this, saying, “That was one I wrote during the Full Moon Fever sessions. I wrote all but the chorus. I just had the loop going around and around and really had most of the words and everything. And I played the tape for R...

In March and April of 1992, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were wrapping up the European final leg of their Into The Great Wide Open tour. This leg saw them play dates in Germany, the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Norway, and on April 3rd, they closed out the tour in Malmo, Sweden, playing an extended set of 28 songs to 6000 Swedish fans, closing out with Learning to Fly, Making Some...

Today's episode is my ten questions with the brilliant Peter Nester. I usually put these out as bonus episodes in the same week as my chat with that guest, but Pete's answers to these questions were so thorough, considered, and beautifully expounded, that I felt this needed to be a regular release. I guarantee you'll hear which artist he wants to cover which Tom Petty song and go "Oh, damn, yeh I...

This is a special non-Petty episode of the podcast. I haven’t recorded one in ages, but when former guest Jeff Slate reached out to me to ask if I’d be interested in talking to him about his new single which is out now and the album it’s from which will drop in May, it wasn’t a hard sell for me as I'm a fan of both his music and his writing. We had a great chat about throwaway lyrics, production d...

I have two words for you: Yogi Berra. But what does the Yankees catcher have to do with my conversation with Pete Nester? Tune in to find out! Today's episode is a sprawling, hugely enjoyable conversation I had with a fellow music podcaster who I've been listening to for a couple and a half years now. Pete was very supportive of this show right from the getgo and offered me some valuable advice wh...

Another long one this season folks! But again there's so much to talk about with this album and we felt we needed to talk about each individual track. John and I had a good discussion about the background to the recording of this album and where this sits in the evolution of Tom's songwriting. We also didn't have a "producer for the day" discussion because we agreed that the album is sequenced pre...

The lyrics in Built to Last are unambiguously hopeful and quietly resilience. Perhaps it’s Tom’s last attempt to build a creative buttress around his failing marriage. Perhaps its an equal attempt to put up a wall around a band that had gone through a major friction point and were probably still unsure what direction they would be taking. The lyric feels, in some ways, like a more introspective co...

I know that, because you’re listening to this podcast that you must love rock n roll music. And when you hear the crackle of a cable being plugged into an amp, or that low buzz from the speaker, there’s just something primal and irresistible that happens to you if you love this type of music. Your whole body responds to it in both a physical and emotional way. It’s not “just” music. It becomes lik...

Another simple song, another catchy hook, another memorable idea that Tom puts into our heads and leaves there as a treat. I’m 100% sold on Into The Great Wide Open these days, where I didn’t listen to it front to back very often before. This song is another little forgotten deep cut that does so much with so little, very economically. The core idea is a fairly profound one but it’s wrapped up in...

Today's episode is my ten questions with the amazing Mark Lindsey. As a veteran of over 40 Heartbreakers shows and as a guy who has seen Mudcrutch, Bob Dylan, ELO, and Bob Dylan live, my questions about opening acts, shows Mark would like to see, and Mudcrutch or the Wilburys became all the more interesting. His picks for people to cover Tom Petty songs were also on the money! Don't forget that Ma...

In Conversations With Tom Petty, Tom says “I struggled with the lyrics quite a bit. It was one of those things where you struggle and you always wonder if you got everything out of it that you could.” He does go on to say that during a rehearsal for the song he found that he enjoyed the lyrics, but I think the way they’re crafted belies any notion of uncertainty on his part. I love that alternatin...

Today's episode is my wonderful conversation with one of the finest human beings you're going to find anywhere on the planet. As well as being a lifelong superfan of Tom Petty and a veteran of over 40 of his shows, Mark also runs the Sight and Sound Care charity that provides free vision care, including examinations, contact lenses and glasses to musicians and music industry workers all across the...

Today's episode is a conversation I had with Milwaukee-based musician Trapper Schoepp. We discussed his love of Tom's music, the background behind his cover of Free Fallin' which you can find on all streaming platforms, his co-write with Bob Dylan (yes, you read that right!) and he rapid-fire answered my ten questions, which is why they aren't being broked out into a separate episiode. We were als...

Today's episode is Doc Wiley and Chris Gillette's answers to my ten questions. Doc found a good hack to my question "Which Tom Petty concert from history would you like to have seen" and Chris talked wonderfully about Walls and mentioned that The Waiting played it during their PBS special, which will be airing in January next year. For more info, videos, and performance dates, please check out the...

Today's episode is the fourth installment of my #Guestember series of conversations. This one is with the wonderfully funny and insightful Doc Wiley and Chris Gillette, who are the bass player and singer/rhythm guitarist in Montana-based tribute band, The Waiting. Like my previous tribute band guests, The Waiting don't put on wigs and costumes and play the songs note for note, but instead apply th...

Maybe she’s the girl who is gonna be picked up in King’s Highway. Maybe the thing she’s finally managed to break free from is a relationship with a self-obsessed movie star who has been pulled into a world of glamour and glitz. Maybe, just maybe, I’m massively overthinking this, but it sure is fun to connect dots and build out the narrative in your own mind! Today’s episode covers the second song...

Today's episode covers the Ten Questions part of my conversation with Will Porteous. It's no surprise which album Will chose as his favourite, but our conversation about which song we'd give to someone who didn't know Tom's music saw us talking about a few deep cuts that don't often get a shout out on that question. If you want to check out Will's amazing podcast, The Limehouse Podcast, click here...

Today's episode is a conversation I had with powerhouse multi-disciplinarian and resident of Diss, Will Porteous. As a quick warning, there's a bit of profanity in this episode, but when you get two Englishmen in a room (even virtual) the langauge will change on a dime! I've been looking forward to this chat for somewhere around two years now because Will has been a very generous supporter of the...

There are, again, some very big ideas packed into this very simple almost-four-minute pop song and as always, Tom isn’t preaching or judging, just observing. As my wonderful guest Matt Jaffe said during our Ten Questions episode, Tom is never didactic. He’s not saying that celebrity is bad, he’s not judging the family’s luck or the girl’s choices, and importantly he’s not prescribing an antidote,...

Today's episode covers the Ten Questions part of my conversation with Russell Mark of The Nextdoors. Russell took a completely unique approach to the question about which artist he'd like to hear cover Tom's music and which song they'd perform. It's a really cool take on preserving Tom's musical legacy with a new audience. Please check out The Nextdoor's website here: https://nextdoorsmusic.com ....

Today's episode is a conversation I had with the wonderful Russell Mark, of the Pasadena-based husband and wife duo, The Nextdoors. Russell is also a long time performer, composer, sound engineer, producer, music camp director and was a very easy person to sit and talk to for just over an hour and a half! I sat down with Russell on November 13 of this year and we talked about how to craft songs ar...

“You could almost take Mike [Campbell] for granted, because anything you asked him to do, he did it. And more. I don’t remember ever throwing anything his way that he couldn’t do. He could do it, and do it better than you thought. He will give you back your idea better than you had it in the first place. THAT’S a great musician.” - Tom Petty The implication I’ve always taken from the abrupt ending...

Today's episode covers the Ten Questions part of my conversation with Matt Jaffe. We had a great conversation about Walls (Circus) vs Walls (No 3), Matt surprised me with who he would have cover a Tom Petty song, but since he's said it, it's been stuck in my brain. He also gave a superb answer to my final question and described Tom Petty in 3 words absolutely brilliantly! Please check out Matt's w...

Today's episode is a conversation I had with the wonderful Matt Jaffe. After cutting his teeth on open mics around the Bay Area, San Francisco songwriter Matt Jaffe was discovered by  Jerry Harrison  of Talking Heads. Together, they produced his first album at the age of 16, cementing Matt's dedication to music. Soon, he formed a band, dropped out of college, and has not looked...

In 2004/2005 when Paul Zollo is interviewing Tom for his seminal book, Conversations With Tom Petty. Tom bemoans to Paul that The Dark of the Sun was never played live. He says “It got lost in the shuffle of that album. There were so many songs on it. I thought it was a good little song.” This is another one of those tracks that I sometimes forget about and then when I hear it think, “man, that’s...