Tom Petty Brings Quick Wit To Twitter Chat With Fans

Tom Petty brought his typical mix of sarcasm and earnestness when he turned up for a live Twitter chat with fans tonight (Dec. 15), answering a seemingly endless stream of queries with quick-witted replies. Overall the session was short on breaking news, long on boundless entertainment.

In our lead-in story about the chat, we stated that "all questions are fair game for the rocker," and fans seemed to take that advice to heart, firing off questions that ran the gamut from matter-of-fact to ridiculous.

Things started off all over the map, with questions like "Do you remember the first album you ever bought?" (Answer: "Bob Dylan"), "What do you like to do when you're not playing?" ("Sex") and "When was the first time you saw snow? ("That's a good question. I think on tour in '76 in Boston").

Once in awhile he would get down to the nitty gritty, tweeting replies about his upcoming U.K. tour ("I love the U.K., very excited to come there in general. Wish we were playing more shows") and future plans with his Mudcrutch side project ("Definitely more Mudcrutch, maybe even next year"). When asked if there was a new Petty album planned, he replied, "Yes there is, but too soon to know details, it's early days."

But for the most part, the questions didn't seem to get any less random: "Who would you want to play you for your biopic?" (A: "Steve Buscemi"), "What is your fondest memory of [former Traveling Wilburys bandmate] Roy [Orbison]?" ("His laugh") and "What do you most like about being famous?" ("Nothing").

Petty was definitely interested in talking a little shop: "Recommendation for a great practice amp?" ("Fender Princeton"), "Do you have a favorite guitar you like to play?" ("I like my '66 blond Everly Brothers acoustic"), "How many guitars do you own?" ("I'm not sure. [A]  couple hundred") and "Any good advice for a new songwriter?" ("Listen a lot").

And he was definitely in a playful mood. When asked "What question do you get over and over and OVER again that you wish people would stop asking?" He replied: "That one."

Petty closed the chat -- you can read all his answers to here -- with one more interaction (Asked "What are you having for dinner tonight?" he replied: "I haven't even had breakfast yet") and then sent a farewell message to all his fans: "Thanks everyone. Dropped my phone. Gotta go."

And with that, his chat was over.