The Tom Petty Project

One last non-Petty episode before we being digging into Wildflowers! This time, Russell Mark, from The Nextdoors is back to talk about their new single "Swing and a Miss". We talk about perfection in art and whether it's worth striving for, we nerd out over specific production choices and songwriting form, and of course, we talk about Gary Carter, and America's pastime. It was a lot of fun chatting to Russell again and I hope you enjoy our chat as much as we did!You can listen to or buy Swing and a Miss here;Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/2rkI6C98jJhv6GhSmWYBaPApple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/swing-and-a-miss/1733839196Youtube Music: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=9k1c5udiTgoBandcamp: https://thenextdoors.bandcamp.com/album/swing-and-a-miss-singleAnd you can go check out The Nextdoors website for upcoming shows and all sorts of other info! https://nextdoorsmusic.comDon't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectTwitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyprojectAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comThe Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producer: Paul Roberts

This is another special non-Petty episode of the podcast with the fantastic Jake Thistle, who found time in his insanely busy schedule to sit down with me to discuss his label debut, The Half Left Out. We chatted a little about Gainesville and Tom of course, but mainly we dug into the weeds around his full debut release, with topics ranging from album sequencing, how different producers bring different perspectives to songs, and how to avoid cliche: Jake has a fairly direct way of dealing with that! We also dug into the brilliant video for Brooklyn Can Wait and talked through each track in a little more depth. Jake has a new live album coming out some time in the next few months and already has demos made for most of a new studio recording which will be coming sometime hopefully soon. In the meantime, make sure you check out https://jakethistle.com and go support Jake at a live show if he’s playing anywhere near you. You can listen to Jake's fantastic album, The Half Left Out here; Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5NHK1O1KV8HX4rQpHBWYxM?si=SkDAanucR9C3ZQYtJ2HCowApple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-half-left-out/1713615334Youtube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nUNZNye9Kwjuhxc-DG4eYsojuLhOz_CHsAnd check out the video for "Brooklyn Can Wait" here: https://youtu.be/w_7rzZ5gMTwDon't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectTwitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyprojectAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comThe Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producer: Paul Roberts

A really fun one today folks. John and Kevin dig deep into inclusions and ommissions from 1993's Greatest Hits. We have a conversation about formats (CD vs vinyl), chronological ordering vs sequencing, and whether ballads belong on Greatest Hits compilations. Both John and Kevin have one song that the other feels simply doesn't belong on the Greatest Hits album and have a fulsome conversation about their reasoning!Do check out www.4for4.com if you're into fantasy football and follow John on Twitter at @4for4_JohnDon't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectTwitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt6BLRWuuAR43zHpNKIirOwAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com/Logo provided Ed Booth, who you can find here: https://edboothart.com/The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producer: Paul Roberts

Today’s episode is the third installment in my Petty 8ight series, where I bring in musicians who aren’t Pettyheads, give them eight deeper cuts that they likely haven’t heard before, and get their thoughts on them. In this episode, my willing newbies are Sean and Todd McGinity. The brothers are based in Winnipeg and have a long history of writing, recording and playing shows both together in bands as well as in other projects. They’re also both seasoned podcasters, with their show The SeanGeek and FastFret podcast rapidly approaching 500 episodes and I’d urge you to check that out. Look further down in these notes for links to their bandcamp pages for the band Dome and their duo project Bros Before Gin. LANGUAGE WARNING: As a heads up, this episode is a little sweary. It was later in the evening when we talked and it was more like three guys hanging out and shooting the shit rather than a more formal interview. As I knew they would, they brought some different perspectives to songs I know like the back of my hand, including an observation about Fault Lines that I’d simply never noticed before!Visit Sean's website for links to all things McGinity and SeanGeek and FastFret! https://seanmcginity.ca To find the Dome album, visit Bandcamp here: https://domewpg.bandcamp.com/album/we-are-machineTo find the Bros Before Gin album, visit Bandcamp here: https://brosbeforegin.bandcamp.com/album/the-kitchen-sinkThe Tom Petty Project is a proud member of The Deep Dive Podcast Network, which you can find on Twitter: https://twitter.com/deepdivepodnetDon't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectTwitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt6BLRWuuAR43zHpNKIirOwAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com/Logo provided Ed Booth, who you can find here: https://edboothart.com/The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producer: Paul Roberts

A major change in this cover version is the format of the lyrics. Something in the Air is a fairly ominous call to arms. The original was released in May of 1969 when the Vietnam War was still raging at its most furious. Speedy Keen said that told ZigZag magazine in 1975 of the song "It was a reflection of what I was seeing at the time". But rather than using the overtly observational third verse and the line “Hand out the arms and ammo. We're gonna blast our way through here”, Tom repeats the first. He also switches up the first line of the second verse from the sinister “Lock up the streets and houses Because there's something in the air” to the much more optimistic and carefree “Run through the fields and houses because there's something in the air”. If ever you have to try to define the word zeitgeist, using “something in the air” as a synonym is pretty much the best you can do in my opinion and this is why Tom is able to co-opt an observation on the vietnam war into a song that carries a much more hopeful tenor.Today’s episode covers the second single from the Greatest Hits release, "Something in the Air".Song video :  https://youtu.be/8J7yTze4Xbs Live Anthology version : https://youtu.be/ejagbjZRlAY Fish version : https://youtu.be/VaU-XY0www4 Thunderclap Newman version : https://youtu.be/T59hsln7nlc The podcast I promoted in this week's episode, Booked on Rock, can be found here: https://shows.acast.com/podcastwillrockThe Tom Petty Project is a proud member of The Deep Dive Podcast Network, which you can find on Twitter: https://twitter.com/deepdivepodnetDon't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectTwitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt6BLRWuuAR43zHpNKIirOwAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com/The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producer: Paul Roberts

When author Paul Zollo asks Tom about the song in his book Conversations With Tom Petty, and mentions that the song had been partially written some years previously, Tom confirms this, saying, “That was one I wrote during the Full Moon Fever sessions. I wrote all but the chorus. I just had the loop going around and around and really had most of the words and everything. And I played the tape for Rick Rubin and he liked it a lot and suggested I write a chorus. There were maybe five years between the writing of the verses and the chorus.” Of course, all hardcore Pettyheads know that the lyrics that Tom initially came up with in the chorus were very different to what ended up on the recording. In 2020, Mike Campbell told Vulture magazine, “What’s funny is that when Tom wrote this song, when he first showed it to me, the chorus was, “Hey Indiana girl, go out and find the world.” It was a completely different chorus and we all hated it. A few days later Tom came in and sang, “Last dance for[sic] Mary Jane.”Today’s episode covers the first single from the Greatest Hits release, the iconic "Mary Jane's Last Dance".You can listen (and watch) to the song here: https://youtu.be/aowSGxim_O8 To hear the live version from the Fillmore, check that here: https://youtu.be/KTW349WRTsQ The podcast I promoted in this week's episode, And The Podcast Will Rock, can be found here: https://shows.acast.com/podcastwillrock The Tom Petty Project is a proud member of The Deep Dive Podcast Network, which you can find on Twitter: https://twitter.com/deepdivepodnetDon't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectTwitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt6BLRWuuAR43zHpNKIirOwAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com/The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography"Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producer: Paul Roberts

In March and April of 1992, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were wrapping up the European final leg of their Into The Great Wide Open tour. This leg saw them play dates in Germany, the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Norway, and on April 3rd, they closed out the tour in Malmo, Sweden, playing an extended set of 28 songs to 6000 Swedish fans, closing out with Learning to Fly, Making Some Noise, and then serene lullaby, Alright For Now. Tom couldn’t have anticipated that on his return to Los Angeles, everything was very soon going to be very far from alright.Today’s episode covers the non-album single released in April 1992 "Peace in L.A.".You can listen to the song here: https://youtu.be/OT2rb7ac3_4To hear the "Peace Mix" of the track, you can check out this video: https://youtu.be/fO2ogekTvuAI referenced the National Geographic documentary, LA 92, in the episode and you can find that here: https://youtu.be/uaotkHlHJwoThe Tom Petty Project is a proud member of The Deep Dive Podcast Network, which you can find on Twitter: https://twitter.com/deepdivepodnetDon't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectTwitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt6BLRWuuAR43zHpNKIirOwAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com/The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography"Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producer: Paul Roberts

Today's episode is my ten questions with the brilliant Peter Nester. I usually put these out as bonus episodes in the same week as my chat with that guest, but Pete's answers to these questions were so thorough, considered, and beautifully expounded, that I felt this needed to be a regular release. I guarantee you'll hear which artist he wants to cover which Tom Petty song and go "Oh, damn, yeh I need to hear that!" and our discussion about which is his favourite album was a particular highlight of our conversation for me. I know for sure that I'll be dragging Pete back onto the podcast at some future point and I know which season I'm shooting for, even though he doesn't!You can find Pete's fabulous podcast, Honest and Unmerciful: A Record Review Podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/72nyhwx2urnnlT3STZaIBpAnd check out a solo acoustic version of Big Love, by Lindsey Buckingham, similar to the one that we were discussing here: https://youtu.be/gEAsArHxUbcYou can also find the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Honestandunmerciful and if you're on Bluesky, you can find that here: https://bsky.app/profile/honest-unmerciful.bsky.social Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectTwitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt6BLRWuuAR43zHpNKIirOwAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comThe Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise. If you want merchandise for this podcast, please check out https://www.teepublic.com/user/eight-ninety-eight/albums/245634-tom-petty-projectA last very special thanks to Paul Zollo and Warren Zanes without whose books, Conversations with Tom Petty and Petty: The Biography, this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

This is a special non-Petty episode of the podcast. I haven’t recorded one in ages, but when former guest Jeff Slate reached out to me to ask if I’d be interested in talking to him about his new single which is out now and the album it’s from which will drop in May, it wasn’t a hard sell for me as I'm a fan of both his music and his writing. We had a great chat about throwaway lyrics, production differences when you bring in outside voices, and recording an album with people in remote locations during a pandemic lockdown. Jeff’s new album features a glittering array of star names, from Dave Stewart to Earl Slick, to Duff McKagan, all the way to OG heartbreaker Ron Blair. Listen to Jeff's fantastic new single, (Broken) Without You, here: https://youtu.be/1oskIeP_7Y0 and check out his website for merch, dates, and other info here: https://jeffslatehq.comDon't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectTwitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyprojectAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comThe Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.Thanks to Warren Zanes for the invaluable resource that is his biography of Tom Petty. A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, Conversations with Tom Petty, this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.