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The Tom Petty Project

Kevin Brown

This is the weekly podcast that digs into the entire Tom Petty catalog song by song, album by album and includes conversations with musicians, fans, and people connected with Tom along the way.


Follow me on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyproject

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Threads: https://www.threads.net/@thetompettyproject

Boneless Podcasting Network: https://bonelesspodcasting.com


Wirtten, produced, and performed by Kevin Brown for 8NINETY8 Productions.


(This podcast is in no way affiliated with the Tom Petty estate.)

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  • 31 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 37 min
  • English

Episodes 31

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  • S15 · E11
    Wednesday · 18 min

    Candy

    From the very first notes of this song I was hooked. It’s just irresistibly fun and cool. This one is probably one of the most deeply buried treasures in Tom’s catalogue. It was never played live and I’ve never been able to find a single quote by anyone in the band or outside it talking about it. There are a few contemporary reviews at the time, all calling it insubstantial and skippable - as if! It’s one I don’t often hear even the Pettyheads talking about. You know, if you talk about Two Gunslingers, or It'll All Work Out or The Apartment Song, most fans will have those songs among their favourite deep cuts - and with very good reason. They’re great songs. But this one is right up there with them for me. You could almost pair this with The Apartment Song - the central character in both seems to be a very similar character. A blue collar, no nonsense working guy with a taste for simple things and a pragmatic approach to life. Song : https://youtu.be/ze_xJn3Liz4 Dave Vermeulen's Voltage covering Candy live : https://youtu.be/HBSQINiQrlk Tell me what Mojo means to you! https://tompettyproject.com/mojo.php Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S15 · E10
    November 4 · 1 hr 6 min

    The Trip to Pirate's Cove (with Dallas Heliker)

    For today's episode, I ended up doing somethign different. My pal - and very long time listener - Dallas Heliker and I were chatting offline and I asked him if he wanted to jump on a call to discuss this song and Mojo in general as I know it's a favourite record of his and that this song in particular strikes a chord. We had a fantastic chat and it was really enjoyable to have a guest for a song episode for the first time since I covered Wildflowers! I also discovered why the narrator in this song and his buddy would have been heading up to Mendocino! Who knew... I hope you enjoy this one folks because any chance to chat to a genuine superfan like Dallas is a chance to learn! Song : https://youtu.be/Gf4IDejQH88 Dallas's first appearance on the podcast : https://pod.link/1580769475/episode/NjE4Yjg0NWFhNmY4MGMwMDEzNmE0YTZh Tell me what Mojo means to you! https://tompettyproject.com/mojo.php Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S15 · E9
    October 28 · 20 min

    Running Man's Bible

    Drew Olson writing for OnMilwaukee.com, in a very brief tribute to Howie, quotes Tom as saying "I'd always wanted to deal with Howie's death, and there's some of that in there. One of those embarrassingly revealing songs. It just crept into my mind one day. I was playing the guitar, and it started falling out." It’s also important to note the wording Tom uses; “there's some of that in there”. So I wouldn’t go so far as to say “This song is about Howie Epstein” but when you dig into the lyrical content, I think you can see a very easy connection to anyone who is dealing with addiction. Song : https://youtu.be/YFzvaf90OKM Live (from the Mojo Tour Edition) : https://youtu.be/Lr984UfVCVM Sue Nelson's art Facebook page, Milkweed Studio : https://www.facebook.com/milkweedstudio Tell me what Mojo means to you! https://tompettyproject.com/mojo.php Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S15 · E6
    September 30 · 22 min

    First Flash of Freedom

    The track comes out firing on all cylinders with those aggressively swept ascending notes. Yet again, we’re being treated to something that’s a million miles from anything we’ve heard before. Mike and Scott Thurston are in complete harmonic lockstep here and Tom tells Mike Mettler, “There are a lot of dual guitars on it, so Scott and Mike worked a long time on the double harmony parts. They rehearsed that a lot.” and you can hear it in the performance. It would probably have been much easier to do if Mike added his part first, with Scott adding in his guitar afterwards so he would have had time to get it right, but the fact that this was done live makes it all the more impressive. Tom actually says “We rehearsed that one on the studio floor for a long time before we even rolled and were finally able to say, "Okay, we're ready to do a take." What we wound up keeping was the second pass. This group tends to play most passionately early in a session. They can surprise me sometimes, but usually it's early. So that's the one we kept.” Song : https://youtube.com/watch?v=QfEwYYSq1sI Tell me what Mojo means to you! https://tompettyproject.com/mojo.php Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S15 · E4
    September 25 · 42 min

    Jake Thistle

    Artist Conversation Series

  • S15 · E3
    September 23 · 22 min

    Jefferson Jericho Blues

    When the album finally dropped, people who hadn’t heard this song must have been slightly surprised to be assaulted with a howling harmonica part straight out of the traps. Almost every Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album opens with a volley of guitar. THe guitar is still there, but after Steve Ferrone’s double shot on the snare, it’s Scott Thurston’s blues harp that draws there ear - with Mike’s Les Paul doubling that line. In an interview with Sound and Vision shortly after the album came out, Tom tells Mike Mettler, “I kept handing Scott these assignments: 'Okay, I want you to play harp on this song.' It's not all that easy. So he'd gimme stuff back, and I'd say, 'Wow, I didn't know you played the harmonica that well.'” Now we know! Song (Official Video) : https://youtu.be/5LAA6lF6uFI Parade of Loons : https://youtu.be/o074UPAjFxc Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S15 · E2
    September 9 · 1 hr

    Episode 300 - Deep Cut Draft (with John Paulsen)

    For Episode 300, I figured we should do something a little special. So I called up my pal John Paulsen to combine the two things he does best; fantasty drafts and playlists! We each had fifteen picks from the Tom Petty deep cuts catalogue. It's a big volume of songs! How did we decide what a "deep cut" is? Well, first of all, the song couldn't have charted on the Billboard 200 chart. Then, we limited it to any song that has fewer than 7,000,000 streams on Spotify (at time of recording). That still left us with a bucketload of songs to choose from! We included Mudcrutch and the Traveling Wilburys as well as Tom's solo and Heartbreakers output. At the end of the episode we each had a fifteen song playlist and a broader thirty songs that we could present to a casual fan to entice them into exploring Tom's work futher. This was an incredibly difficult process of whitling and regret! As the NFL season is upon us - all your fantasy draft folks should really be following John and taking advantage of all sorts of offers for subscriptions to 4for4.com. You can find John online on: Twitter: https://x.com/4for4_John and Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/4for4-john.bsky.social Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S15 · E1
    September 2 · 14 min

    Get Yer Mojo On

    Season Fifteen begins. The first song I remember hearing from this album was I Should Have Known It. But I didn’t hear it on the radio. A good friend of mine, Kris Klyne, who is also an immensely talented songwriter and musician, was over at my place as we were sharing a couple of rather delicious craft beers. He asked me if I’d ever heard this song. I clearly hadn’t reached Mojo in my Petty deep dive but as soon as I heard it I knew I had to prioritize listening to the rest of the record. I have a few guests lined up this season and we have a fantastic collection of songs to work our way through in the next four to five months! This record is stacked with phenomenal deep cuts and I can’t wait to dig into it fully on this season of the podcast. To leave me a message, go here : https://tompettyproject.com/mojo Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S14 · E22
    August 19 · 57 min

    The Other Guys!

    Obviously, Tom is the primary focus of most of this project, but as I said last week, one of the joys of the last five years has been discovering how astonishingly good a band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were. One of the ten questions I always ask my guests is “Who is your favourite band member other than Tom” Here are the answers. See how many voices you remember! Thanks to all my guests who answered this one! In order, they are: Dallas Heliker, Jake Thistle, Gwen Jones, Nic Apostoleris, Jeff Slate, Megan Volpert, Corey Morrissette, Katie Moulton, Dan Spiess, Michael Washburn, Ivan Anderson, Tommy Edwin, Dan Durkin, Django Bayliss, Matt Jaffe, Russell Mark, Will Porteous, Doc Wiley and Chris Gillette, Mark Lindsey, Peter Nester, Mary Beth Donnelly, Tim Bulman, Nora Hayward Olsen, Eric Senich, Shawn Murphy, Greg Wolfe, Rich Gibson, Shine, Sam Krishnan, Matt Burke, Steve Ursell, and Robin Vincent. Don't forget to leave me a voice note telling me what "Mojo" means to you! https://tompettyproject.com/mojo.php. You can also email me at kevin@kevbrown.ca with your thoughts. Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S14 · E21
    August 12 · 18 min

    Five Years (and counting)

    Something I’ve been thinking about a fair bit this week is how my relationship with Tom’s music has changed over the years that I’ve been doing the show now. The very short answer to this is I’ve come to regard him as one of the truly great songwriters in history. Over time, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers has rocketed up my list of, not just favourite bands, but bands I would put head to head against any of the best rock n roll bands of all time. The day this episode comes out, will be one day after the fifth anniversary of the show so I wanted to do a little retrospective and put out a shorter episode where I can reflect on the journey so far. Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S14 · E20
    August 5 · 22 min

    Live from Gatorville

    Included on one of the discs in the Running Down a Dream documentary by Peter Bogdanovic, the release has been widely circulated in many bootleg forms and I think we’re long overdue a re-release! Wouldn’t it be great to have this upscaled to 4K and remastered. Heck, I’d even love a double vinyl release of this one for my collection. It’s a band at the top of their game, with absolutely nothing to lose, playing to a packed house of fans, friends, and family, that was captured for posterity, without overdubs, and stands up as one of the great Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performances. I remember when I watched the Running Down a Dream documentary for the first time not realizing that this concert footage was included and being blown away by just how tight this band was. I go back to it often, as I’m sure many of you do, and just enjoy watching Tom being so relaxed and confident, backed by his friends, who happen to be one of the best bands of all time. This concert is a very easy 10/10 for me! Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S14 · E19
    July 22 · 19 min

    Remembering Robert Deyber

    “I was doing fine on my own, selling from my own website privately, and right at the same time Tom Petty contacted me and told me he’d been secretly collecting my work, and wanted me to design an album cover for him. He and his wife have 6 paintings or so.” Robert Deyber never became a household name in the manner of Dalí or Warhol, but within contemporary gallery circles he developed an exceptionally loyal following who appreciated that his paintings were technically accomplished, immediately understandable, and humorous without being superficial. Thousands of private collectors acquired his paintings and limited editions, including other notable figures from the entertainment industry. Links and sources from this episode In the Studio : https://youtu.be/gnvkPiQ7fYY Bellevue Reporter interview : https://www.bellevuereporter.com/2009/02/08/artist-robert-deyber-plays-on-words/ Unlocking Connecticut interview : https://unlockingconnecticut.com/2016/09/artist-robert-deyber/ Artsy interview : https://www.artsy.net/article/martin-lawrence-galleries-robert-deyber Profile on the Martin Lawrence Galleries website : https://martinlawrence.com/collections/robert-deyber Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S14 · E17
    July 8 · 1 hr 49 min

    Guitars & Mike Campbell with Josh Caldwell

    Today's episode is a wide ranging conversation that I had with my friend Josh Caldwell. Josh and I met through a mutual love of Van Halen and the superb And the Podcast Will Rock, cohosted by my good pals Corey Morrissette and Mark Camire. We get into the weeds about guitars and guitarists and talk about what makes Mike special and why he was an indispensible part of the Heartbreakers formula! If you want to find Josh's excellent podcast, The Engine Room, you can check it out here: https://pod.link/1859462144 And if you want to check out And the Podcast Will Rock, you'll find that one here: https://pod.link/1595995181 Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S14 · E16
    July 1 · 1 hr 14 min

    Highway Companion (with John Paulsen)

    My pal John Paulsen is back to run through Highway Companion with me. We get into the weeds about whether I'm overscoring the catalogue and as always, we take a shot a resequencing the albums in a different way according to our tastes. We also float a few ideas for special episodes that we can do once the main catalogue is complete and there were some fun ideas that came up! If you want to find John, you can catch him over on Bluesky at: https://bsky.app/profile/4for4-john.bsky.social Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S14 · E15
    June 24 · 17 min

    The Golden Rose

    We often talk about album openers and closers and I’m sure my pal John Paulsen and I will get into that next week, but of all the songs that were included on this record, the opener and the closer just scream at you on Highway Companion. Both Saving Grace and The Golden Rose have momentum and hit that theme of travelling perfectly, but they do it in very different ways. Saving Grace soars above the scenery and exhilarates as it takes you on its journey. The Golden Rose on the other hand floats, almost without the aid of any manual propulsion. Song : https://youtu.be/762qbtPsKlk ADDITIONAL LINKS Judge Timbers' tutorial: https://youtu.be/Mf7AJJH55Gs Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show. Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475 All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way. Producer: Kevin Brown Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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