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Mike Campbell Has Written Some Hits

Mike Campbell of The Dirty Knobs
Pamela Littky
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Courtesy of the artist
Mike Campbell of The Dirty Knobs

Best known as a member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell was responsible for co-writing songs like "Refugee," "Runnin' Down A Dream," and "You Got Lucky." But he's also been writing great licks for countless other artists over the years, like Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer" and The Wallflowers' first hit, "6th Avenue Heartache."

He aims to make his own hits in his new band, The Dirty Knobs. Its debut album is called Wreckless Abandon, and sure, there's a little musical DNA sharing between the band he fronts and the band he was part of for decades, The Heartbreakers. However, it's Campbell's band this time, and we talk about how he found his voice as a frontman for the first time. We also talk about a fast friendship with Chris Stapleton, who guests on the record, and we dig into some classic Tom Petty tracks.

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Since 2017, John Myers has been the producer of NPR's World Cafe, which is produced by WXPN at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Previously he spent about eight years working on the other side of Philly at WHYY as a producer on the staff of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. John was also a member of the team of public radio veterans recruited to develop original programming for Audible and has worked extensively as a freelance producer. His portfolio includes work for the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, The Association for Public Art and the radio documentary, Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio. He's taught radio production to preschoolers and college students and, in the late 90's, spent a couple of years traveling around the country as a roadie for the rock band Huffamoose.