The Tom Petty Project

I enjoyed previewing season ten and talking about Wildflowers before we started digging into the songs and figured, “you know what, let’s do that for each season moving forward!” So I’m going to split this episode into two halves. The first half is a little bit of an intro to this album, in case you’re not familiar or you’re less familiar with it. The second half will be my comments on the movie,...

This week's episode is the fourth installment The Petty 8ight! I love talking to Pettyheads, musicians, and other people who have been influenced by Tom or his music in myriad ways, but I thought it would be neat to see what non-fans, or non-hardcore fans think of Tom's music if I threw deeper cuts at them. My latest #Petty8ight guest is the wonderful Ian Winick, who has been an incredibly support...

As the fall leaves come in, Eric Senich starts thinking about listening to his favourite Tom Petty album! Eric is also a fellow drummer so the song he picked to perform with the Heartbreakers is a Stan Lynch part! It's 10 Questions time again and Eric didn't disappoint with his answers! Don't forget to check out Eric's website here, where you can find links to all the episodes: https://www.bookedo...

Today’s episode is a wonderful, sprawling conversation that I had with the inimitable host of the Booked on Rock podcast, Eric Senich. Eric and I met through the Van Halen show, And the Podcast Will Rock, which is hosted by my good pal and Ultimate Catalogue Clash co-host Corey Morrissette. Eric’s knowledge of rock n roll is staggering - and at times quite intimidating - as his insatiable thirst f...

Another excellent conversation with John about an album that we both obviously adore. We both talked a little about how the album lands differently for people of a certain age and particularly the way certain songs resonate with parents. We also get into drumming styles, Spotify stats, and for the first time, we don't run through the producer-for-a-day segment as we agreed heading into this one th...

Every story needs an ending and this song gives us that final scene of the hero walking away into the sunset to begin the next chapter of their life. It’s an ending that starts a new beginning. It’s a line drawn under the statement that the entire album makes. The statement that pain doesn’t define us. Our reaction to it does. It brings us back to that thread of redemption that pervades Tom’s enti...

This episode is a fairly hastily organized chat that I had with Jeff Slate and Jake Thistle about the upcoming Wildflowers and Some of the Rest mini-tour that they’re embarking on which kicks off at the Tom Petty Weekend in Gainesville. It was fun digging into the dynamic between the two of them. We recognized that Jake has been performing with Jeff for pretty much a third of his life, that they h...

I’m expanding the non-Petty aspect of the podcast just a little by looking for conversations with artists who might not be strongly or directly influenced by Tom’s music but share some characteristic or characteristics with his writing or approach to the art of songwriting. This week’s guest, Amelia McLean, is a Nashville-based songwriter who is preparing to release her debut album, possibly later...

Tom explains to author Paul Zollo in “Conversations with Tom Petty” that “I remember us tracking it all night and being really frustrated that it wasn’t working. Then they came on the idea of having us all walk out, and “Play this like we’ve never heard it before. I’m just gonna start playing, and whatever we fall in on, we’ll go that way.” And that was the take. It worked. I started to diddle on...

Today’s episode is part two of my wonderful conversation I had with Nora Hayward Olsen; her answers to my ten questions. Nora hit me with a new artist I'd never heard of and was most apologetic about her decision in the choice between Mudcrutch and The Traveling Wilburys! Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://li...

Today’s episode is an excellent conversation I had with Tom Petty superfan Nora Hayward Olsen. Nora comments frequently on the podcast socials and was every bit is personable, warm, and funny in person as she is online. Nora was at one of the Fillmore show where the band played Heartbreakers Beach Party which ended up on live album release. That song was only ever performed six times live, so it’s...

Today’s episode is a non-Petty episode with Dan Durkin, of among other bands, Petty Theft , the sensational Tom Petty tribute band from San Francisco. Dan has a new single out, which I love, and I asked him if he’d want to come back on the show to talk about it. There’s a definite Petty influence in his first release as a solo artist and we dive into the song itself, as well as his route into play...

In the liner notes for Wildflowers and all the Rest, Producer Rick Rubin says “So many of these songs have a sloppy soulful groove that really defined this album. The goal was not to make a perfect album but to capture the sound of a band on a really good night recorded quickly with all of the quirks and imperfections that come with it. It took us about two years to get that spontaneous sound!” To...

Today’s bonus episode is a truly awesome conversation I had with Ivan Anderson, the genius mind behind @CyberattackWorld  . We talked about his new collaboration EP with @teddigoldmusic  that is out now and chatted about his next Cyberattack album too. Then we got into a really free-wheeling conversation about music and creativity that ventured into all kinds of areas, from Van Halen, to...

I always consider this one of Tom’s great ambiguous lyrics. Jaan Uhelzski writes that “Petty seems to be nervously taking stock, weighing options, reminiscing, trying to keep his incipient anxiety at bay and trying to hold on to a few last remnants of his former life.” and Benmont Tench says “It's another song that sounds like it's all about whoever, but these songs were about him." and whatever m...

Today's episode is my ten questions with Tim Bulman. We talk about sick parts, Tim is playing and singing a song from Wildflowers as his pick, and yet another guest finds a way to describe Tom Petty in three words that is unique, personal, and wonderfully eloquent. There's plenty of Beatles chat in this one too, which never upsets me as I'm a huge fan, with Tim comparing Wildflowers, in a ver...

Today’s episode is part of a fantastic conversation I had with Tom Petty fan Tim Bulman, who also publishes the marvelous Judge Timbers YouTube channel where he covers the Beatles and solo Beatle catalogues as well as, of course, Tom Petty. Tim breaks down the chords with easy tips on how to learn and perform them. We talk lots about being enthusiastic amateurs and how we love connecting with othe...

One of my very favourite virtuoso pianists is a Canadian/German guy named Michael Kaeshammer. The guy absolutely tears the roof off every time I’ve seen him live and what Benmont does here really reminds me of his playing. It’s technically superb, rhythmically perfect, and so, so, so melodic! As much as I love hearing a perfectly-crafted Mike Campbell guitar solo, it makes my heart sing possibly e...

OK, so is this the most complex and musically challenging song that Tom ever wrote? OF course not. Is it have emotional weight or narrative clarity? No and not really? Does it rock, make you want to move your feet, and make you smile? Yes, yes, and yes. The economy and simplicity of the song is what defines its almost sleazy vibe. And I don’t mean sleazy in the creepy sense, more in that horny tee...

With his ex-wife Jane in a really bad emotional and psychological state, Tom knew that a lot of emphasis was falling on him to keep things together at home for the sake of his youngest daughter, Annakim, and it’s all betrayed in that opening line. “It's all I can do to keep that little girl smiling and keep my faith alive”. Today’s guest conversation sees the return of the brilliantly insightful N...

Today's episode is my ten questions with the wonderful Mary Beth Donnelly, who very kindly joined me on the kick off episode of season ten to talk about the title track from Wildflowers. We chatted about Paul Simon, Jeff Lynne, and everything in between as we went through my ten questions to find out which of Tom's songs she'd like to hear one of CSNY sing and which her favourite other band member...

Today's episode is another conversation I had with the wonderful Tommy Edwin. We discussed Travis picking and talked about putting set lists together and whether choose the songs you think the crowd should hear, not the songs you think they want to hear. Tommy was wonderfully warm, engaging, and just generally a wonderful hang and I hope you enjoy our conversation about his music as much as I did!...

When I think about the solo in this song, it has a gravity to it that makes it feel centuries old. You could almost imagine that it has been living underground in some secret grotto since time began, just waiting for the right song to come along and feed it. It feels like a primal life force all its own, as if Mike is possessed by it rather than being its architect and its master. And I know that...

In the liner notes for Wildflowers and all the Rest, engineer Jim Scott remarks that “Tom would write a song like ‘Honey Bee’ on the spot and the band would just follow him. There are dozens of recordings just starting a song and making it up from top to bottom, coming up with funny lyrics.” Of course, there are plenty of deep cut or inside examples of this that are well known to the hard core fan...

As journalist Jaan Uhelski writes in the Wildflowers and All the Rest liner notes, “If Wildflowers is an album about taking stock of one’s life, “Only a Broken Heart” is a watershed moment on that excavation of self.” Everything about the way the final album version of this song is arranged and produced caters toward that excavation. The busyness of the piano and bass in the alternative version is...