Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs have announced they will release Campbell’s second album as a band leader, following their 2020 critically acclaimed debut album, Wreckless Abandon, on March 4. The new album, titled External Combustion showcases Campbell & The Dirty Knobs’ evolution, pushing the band to a new level, jumping ahead in vision and drive, proving the first record was no one-shot deal.
In celebration of the forthcoming record, Campbell & The Dirty Knobs are premiering their blistering garage-rock single, ‘Wicked Mind’, alongside a George Mays (My Morning Jacket, Brittany Howard, Chicano Batman) directed video.
Co-produced by Campbell and George Drakoulias (The Black Crowes, The Jayhawks), the 11-track album was recorded at Campbell’s home studio, Hocus Pocus Recorders in Los Angeles. External Combustion also features BMG songwriter Margo Price and Ian Hunter as well as piano from fellow Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers founding member Benmont Tench on ‘Lightning Boogie’. Although Campbell wrote most of the songs on the new album within the past year, two of the tracks had been written in the 90’s, only to be rediscovered in Campbell’s extensive vault of unreleased compositions.
Campbell recalled, “The band became this spontaneous type of combustion – to borrow a word. The longer we played, the more intuitive it got.”
The band will finally embark on their first-ever national tour this spring, featuring an extensive run of sold-out headlining shows. “The band’s too good,” said Campbell as he prepares for the upcoming tour. “And now we have two albums to draw from when writing setlists.”
The Dirty Knobs came together nearly two decades ago, after Campbell met guitarist Jason Sinay (Neil Diamond, Ivan Neville) at a session and liked the way their guitars sounded together. What began as a less structured project for Campbell in between The Heartbreakers’ touring became something else altogether when they added the rhythm section of bassist Lance Morrison (Don Henley) and drummer Matt Laug (Slash, Alanis Morrissette).
What followed was several years of intimate, almost incognito, performances in the band’s home base of Los Angeles and surrounding Southern California cities. After all those years playing together, it became clear The Dirty Knobs should take what they were doing to the next level. Following the passing of Campbell’s longtime compatriot, friend and bandmate Tom Petty and his performances with Fleetwood Mac on their 2018-2019 World Tour, The Dirty Knobs released their debut album Wreckless Abandon in 2020 to widespread acclaim.
