Another half hour with Tommy today folks. Wait til you hear who he would like to see open for Tom Petty and which artist he wants to hear cover a Tom Petty song! Please check out Tommy’s (brilliant) website here: https://www.tommyedwinmusic.com. Also, check out his song Empty Chair, from the album “Fade To Memory”: https://youtu.be/MGAfmr4Y54U?si=jBEiJQpB3u39412P…

Today’s special bonus episode is a conversation I had with San Francisco-based tribute band Petty Theft. I chatted for just about an hour and a half with bassist Django Bayless and lead singer/rhythm guitarist Dan Durkin, the two founding members of the band about how the band came together, how they choose songs to cover,…

Today’s episode is a conversation I had with the wonderful Tommy Edwin. Tommy and I connect over on Twitter months ago and I’ve been a fan of his music (and his personality) ever since. I love having conversations about Tom Petty’s music with other musicians because, even when we’re not talking directly about Tom. the…

Something that my season seven guest Ivan Anderson said that stuck with me, was that “Listen to Her Heart” is a ‘little’ song. And by that, he wasn’t being dismissive. He was saying that it wasn’t covering a weighty topic and it was compact and accessible. I’d say exactly the same thing about this one….

Yer So Bad could almost be the most important song in the entire Tom Petty canon. Almost. Probably not the most important, but it was the first song that Tom showed to Jeff Lynne and from there, the rest of Full Moon Fever and then The Traveling Wilburys dropped effortlessly into place. You have to…

Every hardcore Tom Petty fan knows that when Tom took the record to the execs at MCA, they didn’t like it at all. When Paul Zollo asks Tom why in Conversations with Tom Petty, Tom replies “They didn’t hear a single!” One of the other issues with the record that it was only nine tracks…

In his fantastic memoir, Tom Petty and Me, Jon Scott calls Runnin Down a Dream “One of the greatest driving songs I’ve ever heard” and you get his point completely. It’s a juggernaut of a rock n roll song but isn’t overpowering sonically. Again Jeff Lynne leaves enough space for the song to breath but…

“I do like that song. I think it’s a really sweet song. A nice sentiment. Very simple. Extremely simple. It’s not complex in any way” One thing I always find interesting in reading Paul Zollo’s book is the way that Tom often seems to be looking at his own songs from the outside. The book…

Love is a Long Road is a really durable song and though I pointed out that it has a few rock tropes in it, they’re not overdone and not dated and I think this song really holds up well in its original recorded form. It’s another song with a very simple structure but with a…

As it does with so many people, this song resonates with me in many different ways and has become part of my general outlook on life. For me, it’s less a combative thing and more about holding firm to certain principles. Loyalty. Decency. Humility. All big words and and big ideas generally, but they are…