“We grew up fast and no-one seemed to notice. We grew up fast and we grew up alone”. All of us latch key kids can relate very easily to what he’s communicating here. Even though our parents loved and supported us, quite often we were just left to our own devices. During school holidays, once I was 9 or 10 years old we were just left at home, left to sort out our own lunches, let ourselves in and out of the house responsibly and hopefully not burn the place down trying to cook a Christmas pudding...
Nov 20, 2024•24 min•Season 11Ep. 8
“Half of me is ocean. Half of me is sky”. There’s something so brilliantly grand and epic about that line. The ocean and the sky are both vast and hint at the complexity of being human. You also have the contrast between something that is heavy, and anchored to a point in the ocean and the wide open, limitless possibilities of the sky. We’ve all said it before, but this is why Tom is a cut above most writers; his ability to express an idea that complex and that rich in such a seemingly simple ye...
Nov 13, 2024•26 min•Season 11Ep. 7
Pete Nester is down in Gainesville at the Tom Petty Weekend, subbing in for me as I can't be there. He's been doing a fantastic job of connecting me with the weekend via messages, video clips, and photos and he's even gone the extra mile and interviewed a few folks down there! As well as some of the artists, he caught up with some of the amazing crew that make this weekend one of the best festival experiences of the year; Lynne Ellison, Dan Spiess, and Brandon Leavitt. Sit back, relax and enjoy ...
Nov 10, 2024•21 min•Season 11Ep. 6
Another roving report from our man on the ground out at the Tom Petty Weekend in Gainesville. This time, my pal Pete Nester catches up with the main man, Jake Thistle, and also chats to Jared Hart, singer and guitarist with the best-named band you're gonna hear in the next ten years; Lowly Worm and the Fantastic Beverages! Sit back, relax and enjoy Pete Nester's conversation with Jake and Jared! Check out Jake's website here: https://jakethistle.com/home Check out Lowly Worm and the Fantastic Be...
Nov 10, 2024•26 min•Season 11Ep. 5
Surprise! Here's a special episode for you. My pal and roving reporter Pete Nester, from the Honest and Unmerciful Record Review Podcast, is down in Gainesville and grabbed some time with the brilliant MADWOMAN, who blew him away. The conversation talks focuses heavily on artistry, community, and collaboration. This is a fun, breezy, enjoyable chat! Sit back, relax and enjoy Pete Nester's conversation with MADWOMAN! Check out MADWOMAN's website here: https://www.madwomanband.com And please go fo...
Nov 09, 2024•25 min•Season 11Ep. 4
Today’s bonus episode is the second part of my conversation with the wonderful Shawn Murphy. We dug down into which opening act he'd like to see at a Heartbreakers show and his choice for which artist to cover which of Tom's songs is an absolute firecracker! Sit back, relax and enjoy my ten questions with Shawn Murphy. Check out the Tom Petty Trail website here: https://tompettytrail.com And please follow Shawn on social media here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6156493938754...
Nov 09, 2024•17 min•Season 11Ep. 3
Today’s special episode is part of a fantastic conversation I had with the brilliant Shawn Murphy, a lifelong Pettyhead who built and maintains the amazing Tom Petty Trail.com website. Shawn and I chatted about being an outsider growing up and how music can help us through those difficult formative years as well as his recent battle with cancer and how it sharpened his focus on pulling together the amazing resource that he has. If you’re traveling down to Gainesville this week for the Tom Petty ...
Nov 06, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 11Ep. 2
Before we kick off the season proper, let's listen to which version of Walls my guests so far have picked! When I wrote the question, "Which do you prefer, Walls (Circus) or Walls (No. 3), I assumed everyone would pick that latter. It didn't turn out that way!" Guests included, in order; Dallas Heliker, Jake Thistle, Gwen Jones, Janet Lovell, Jeff Slate, Megan Volpert, Corey Morrissette, Katie Moulton, Dan Spiess, Ivan Anderson, Tommy Edwin, Django Bayless, Dan Durkin, Matte Jaffe, Russell Mark,...
Oct 23, 2024•37 min•Season 11Ep. 1
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, which I’ve never seen and am watching for the first time so that I can give you my thoughts for the ...
Oct 16, 2024•18 min
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 supportive and engaged listener of one of my other podcasts, Seaside Pod Review. We share a love of Queen, ...
Oct 09, 2024•1 hr 41 min•Season 10Ep. 29
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.bookedonrock.com If you want to catch my appearance on Booked On Rock, you can find that here: https://tiny...
Oct 04, 2024•21 min•Season 10Ep. 28
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 for knowledge is coupled with an excellent memory for facts and timelines. On top of this, he’s just ...
Oct 02, 2024•1 hr 51 min•Season 10Ep. 27
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 that you just don't need to change Wildflowers. Or do you.......? Do check out www.4for4.com if you're...
Sep 25, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 10Ep. 26
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 entire catalogue. It speaks of the future, rather than the past, as its final word. Today’s guest conver...
Sep 18, 2024•55 min•Season 10Ep. 25
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 haven’t yet nailed out exactly who is singing which songs, and that the name of their supporting band...
Sep 16, 2024•48 min•Season 10Ep. 24
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 this year. We chatted for a little over two hours and listened to parts of some of the songs from t...
Sep 13, 2024•1 hr 53 min•Season 10Ep. 23
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 guitar, we went around a couple of times, Ferrone dropped in on that beat, and bang, we had it. But ...
Sep 11, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 10Ep. 22
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. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyproject Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProject Instagram: https://...
Sep 07, 2024•30 min•Season 10Ep. 21
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 super cool that Nora was there for that one! We chatted about that and about how Tom’s music has ch...
Sep 04, 2024•46 min•Season 10Ep. 20
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 playing and writing music. Dan was such a blast to hang with and I know you’re gonna enjoy this one! The...
Aug 28, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 10Ep. 19
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!” Today’s guest conversation is the second half of the chat I had with the brilliant and incredibly love...
Aug 21, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 10Ep. 18
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 Queen, to Guns n Roses and the enigmatic contradiction that is Axl Rose. Any chance to fanboy to Ivan I grab wi...
Aug 16, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 10Ep. 17
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 meaning you layer on afterwards, I do love that Mike Campbell makes the following observation on this...
Aug 14, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 10Ep. 16
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 very specific way, to the White Album. Check out Tim's excellent YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.c...
Aug 11, 2024•26 min•Season 10Ep. 15
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 other people through the power of music. I also dig a little bit into Tim’s extensive and eclectic body ...
Aug 07, 2024•58 min•Season 10Ep. 14
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 even more when we get something like this from Benmont, probably because the instances of his solos a...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 10Ep. 13
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 teen kind of way. Today’s guest conversation sees the return of my good pal and co-host on the Ultimate...
Jul 24, 2024•45 min•Season 10Ep. 12
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 Nicholas Apostoleris. Who better than a clinical psychologist to bring in to talk about a song that k...
Jul 10, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 10Ep. 11
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 is! Also, rather than a lot of links to Mary Beth on social media, I asked her to give me three boo...
Jul 03, 2024•20 min•Season 10Ep. 10
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! Please check out Tommy's (brilliant) website here: https://www.tommyedwinmusic.com The song at the ...
Jun 26, 2024•57 min•Season 10Ep. 9
