The Tom Petty Project

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 pers…

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 ask…

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 a…

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 n…

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…

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 …

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 cat…

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 rem…

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 …

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, Anna…

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 a…

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 …

When I think about the solo in this song, it has a gravity to it that makes it feel centuries old. You could almost imagine that it has been living underground in some secret grotto since time began,…

In the liner notes for Wildflowers and all the Rest, engineer Jim Scott remarks that “Tom would write a song like ‘Honey Bee’ on the spot and the band would just follow him. There are dozens of recor…

As journalist Jaan Uhelski writes in the Wildflowers and All the Rest liner notes, “If Wildflowers is an album about taking stock of one’s life, “Only a Broken Heart” is a watershed moment on that ex…

“It's good to be king and have your own way. Get a feeling of peace at the end of the day” There’s security in success, but there’s an ominous cautionary tone that creeps into the next line, “And whe…

Legendary Nashville songwriter, Harlan Howard is purported to have coined the expression “three chords and the truth” and friend and colleague Bob Dylan is also remembered for the great line “All I n…

On certain days, I think “Time to Move On” is the best song on Wildflowers, on other days, other songs take that honour. It’s a song that resonates with so many people because it gives us that glimps…

We’re all quick to judge people, whether they cut us off in the fast lane, or don’t hold a door open for us as we’re heading out of the grocery store. But we don’t know what that person is going thro…

Everything about the way this song is crafted sneaks up on you. It’s a masterclass in how you take an idea and flesh it out into a fully-fledged tour de force piece of art. And that’s not to say that…