Present
Mike Campbell now still tours and works on albums with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and is involved with a side band, The Dirty Knobs. "It's rougher-edged ," Campbell says of the group. "It's slightly over-driven, less polished, lots of Sixties influence: The Kinks, Zeppelin, the Animals. It's something I probably should have done a long time ago, but I didn't 'cause I was wrapped up in the Heartbreakers." Some Dirty Knobs material has been recorded and they have more songs at the ready, but they're not shopping for a deal and are content to work occasional club gigs in Los Angeles.
A Mike Campbell solo album won't be released any time soon. He shrugs off the idea: "I wouldn't want to do an all-instrumental album because I like the songs and I like to hear singers. In the Heartbreakers I've got a great writer and a great singer to work with on my songs. Where else would I be able to find anyone who could match Tom Petty?"
"All of us in the band are very single minded about music. It's all we know how to do, and we're pretty much helpless in any other realm of life. If someone took all the bucks away, we'd just starve! (laughs) We'd be totally useless to civilization! Really, I'm a musician and that's what I do. I don't know what else I could or would do," Mike said in a 1999 interview with fans on tompetty.com.
Petty continues to be impressed by Mike's playing ability, and he will catch himself looking over at Mike while he's soloing, thinking, "God, how does he do this? When he does, it kind of races through my head, 'Boy I like that!'" (WXRT Chicago Sound Opinions radio interview, April 15, 2003)
Campbell has been married to Marcie Campbell since March 24, 1974. They have had two daughters, Brie and Kelsey (the latter of whom provided vocals to the Full Moon Fever track "Zombie Zoo") and one son, Darian.
In 2004, he recorded the guitar solo for the song "Los Angeles Is Burning" from the punk rock band Bad Religion's The Empire Strikes First album. He later on in 2010 recorded the solo for the song "Cyanide" on their 2010 album The Dissent of Man.
In 2007, he joined a reformed Mudcrutch along with Petty, Tench, Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh.
In 2008, he played banjo on the track "Love Song" from the album Earth to the Dandy Warhols by The Dandy Warhols.
Campbell plays the guitar and the mandolin in Bob Dylan's 2009 album Together Through Life.
Read more about this topic: Mike Campbell (musician)
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