Hear Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs’ New Song ‘Wicked Mind’
Former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell has released a new song with his band the Dirty Knobs.
"Wicked Mind" is accompanied by a music video, in which Campbell rises from the grave to perform the scorching rock song. You can watch the clip below.
"Wicked Mind" is the first song to be released from the band's upcoming album, External Combustion, which will arrive on March 4. “The band became this spontaneous type of combustion — to borrow a word,” Campbell said in a press release. “The longer we played, the more intuitive it got.”
Though many of the band's planned show dates for 2020 were postponed, Campbell used a lot of the extra time to his advantage, penning and planning material for the sophomore record.
"I’m obsessed with writing," he told Guitar.com last month. "It’s just keeping that channel open. I don’t have a schedule. I can’t sit down and say, 'I’m going to write from 10 until 11.' It doesn’t work that way for me. If you’re open, you just grab it. I’m always open for any little sketch of a lyric or riff. It’s such a mysterious thing. It’s almost hard to talk about it. It’s a gift. Some energy, some force, if you believe in God, whatever, it might be the universe, gives you this inspiration. It’s your responsibility to try and make something good with it."
Recorded last summer, the new LP includes guest appearances by Ian Hunter, fellow Heartbreaker Benmont Tench and singer-songwriter Margo Price. Co-produced by Campbell and George Drakoulias (who's worked with the Black Crowes and the Jayhawks, among others), External Combustion follows the band's 2020 debut, Wreckless Abandon. While most of the new songs have been written within the past year, two tracks had been penned in the '90s.
The Dirty Knobs are scheduled to embark on a North American tour beginning on March 9 in Tampa, five days after the release of External Combustion.
“The band’s too good,” Campbell said. “And now we have two albums to draw from when writing set lists.”