Celebrated guitarist and songwriter Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac) and his band The Dirty Knobs are debuting a hand-made new video for the track “Hell Or High Water” featuring Lucinda Williams. The video—directed by acclaimed animation character designer and art director Matt Nolte (Cars, Ratatouille, Incredibles 2) and co-directed & åproduced by Greg Dykstra (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Finding Nemo, Up)—consists of hand-made puppets created entirely out of recycled materials, operated by hand and filmed live using practical effects and sets.
A team of over 20 creators with credits including Inside Out 2, Coco, Luca, Soul, Elemental, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, 3 & 4, “What If?” and more contributed to the making of the video. Watch/share the video HERE and watch/share a behind-the-scenes video of the making of the “Hell Or High Water” video HERE.
“The Heartbreakers played in our home, our cars, and in my room for most of my life. That band told me to dream against all odds,” says director Nolte. “This project hangs on a dream. It attracted dreamers, and together we tore and cut up cereal and shipping boxes, paper and various pieces of garbage, and made them into art. We moved it around with our hands, we gave it life. The imperfections you see on screen are reflections of people realizing a dream together, on what was a perfect project.”
The track appears on Campbell & The Knobs’ critically acclaimed new full-length Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, out now on BMG. In addition to Williams, the album features appearances from Graham Nash, Chris Stapleton and fellow Heartbreaker Benmont Tench. Salon hails the record as a “their best album yet,” while Ultimate Classic Rock notes that Campbell has “really grown into [his] role as a lead singer” and Premier Guitar raves that the record is “the most expansive and dynamic album of the Dirty Knobs’ one-of-a-kind ride.” Purchase/stream the album HERE and see below for the complete tracklist.
Campbell & The Knobs are celebrating the album’s release by joining with Lucinda Williams and her band for the co-headlining Alone and Together: Come Hell Or High Water tour throughout the Western U.S. Kicking off tonight in Austin at the Moody Theater, the dates will feature both artists performing individually as well as together each night. Tickets are available HERE, see below for a complete list of dates.
The band recently shared the singles “Angel of Mercy” and “Dare To Dream.” Of the latter, which features Graham Nash on vocals alongside Campbell, Consequence hails the song as “a straightforward rocker with a sunny disposition,” while Rolling Stone calls it “an inspirational ballad about learning to live in the present.” “Dare to Dream” is complemented by a Chris Phelps-directed music video shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma including footage from The Church Studio where Mudcrutch—the precursor to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers—made their first studio recordings for Leon Russell’s Shelter Records as they made their way from Gainesville, Florida to Los Angeles in 1974. Watch/share the video HERE and stream/share “Angel of Mercy” HERE.
In addition to Campbell, The Dirty Knobs features fellow Heartbreaker Steve Ferrone on drums, Chris Holt (Don Henley) on guitar and Lance Morrison (Don Henley) on bass.
Campbell also appears on the tribute record Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty—out now on Big Machine Records—performing the Heartbreakers’ track “Ways To Be Wicked” alongside Margo Price.
With Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, Campbell and the Dirty Knobs (named after tech slang for a broken amp dial) have made the most expansive and dynamic album of the Dirty Knobs’ one-of-a-kind ride. The group was founded in 2000 by Campbell as a writing and club-date project outside the Heartbreakers. The group finally got on record with 2020's Wreckless Abandon and 2022's External Combustion, both made with George Drakoulias and Martin Pradler, who return to co-produce the new album with Campbell.
Those LPs, Campbell says, were the Knobs “trying to find our way as a rock & roll band.” “Now it’s down to great songs,” adds Campbell, “the depth in the lyrics and chords.” He recalls something Petty once told him: “Tom said, ‘I love the English language. There’s so much you can do with it.’ I'm discovering that, too. Looking for rhyme schemes, the right word. At first it was a struggle. Now that door has opened,” Campbell says. “I’ve turned a corner” on Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits. The Dirty Knobs are “still a rock band but growing into different feels.”
MIKE CAMPBELL & THE DIRTY KNOBS TOUR DATES
September 11—Austin, TX—Moody Theater*
September 13—Arlington, TX—Arlington Music Hall
September 15—Englewood, CO—Gothic Theater
September 17—Salt Lake City, UT—Eccles Theater*
September 20—Las Vegas, NV—The Pearl Theatre at The Palms*
September 21—Reno, NV—Silver Legacy*
September 23—Oakland, CA—Fox Theater*
September 25—Mesa, AZ—Ikeda Theater*
September 27—Los Angeles, CA—The Bellwether*
September 28—Santa Barbara, CA—Arlington Theatre*
September 29—Del Mar, CA—The Sound*
* Lucinda Williams + Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs
