Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs release new song

By Jill Lances

June 09, 2025 at 11:43 am EDT

Former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell is back with new music.

Campbell and his band The Dirty Knobs just released the new tune "Heart of a Heartland‚" which he says is a song “he’s very proud of.”

“It’s kind of like a travelogue through the middle of America,” Campbell shares on Instagram. “The music is very simple, but the lyrics refer to a lot of American landscapes and sentiments. Many of the images are drawn from things I’ve seen in my travels through the heartland over the years.”

He adds, “It was also really fun to have strings on the song, thanks to Patrick Warren‘s arrangement."

The tune is the first new song from Campbell and The Dirty Knobs since they released the 2024 album Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits. They just kicked off a new tour, which hits Toronto on Saturday. A complete list of dates can be found at TheDirtyKnobs.com.