The Dirty Knobs formed in Los Angeles in the early 2000s as a side project for Mike Campbell, the guitarist best known as Tom Petty's longtime right hand man in the Heartbreakers. The group was formed in 2000 by Mike Campbell, and originally included Steve Ferrone on drums, Chris Holt on guitar, and Lance Morrison on bass , though the lineup soon settled around Campbell alongside singer-guitarist Jason Sinay, bassist Lance Morrison, and drummer Matt Laug. Formed while Campbell was still playing with the Heartbreakers, the band honed its Zeppelin and Kinks influences playing at bars around the country between Heartbreakers tours . For years the Dirty Knobs existed as little more than a well kept secret, a loose and low key outlet where Campbell could indulge his rawer rock and roll instincts away from the arena stages of his day job. Mike Campbell formed the Dirty Knobs 15 years before their debut album, but they had never gigged outside of Los Angeles or released an album during that long incubation period.
The band's true breakthrough came only after Tom Petty's death, when Campbell finally brought the project into the open. Led by the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist, the Los Angeles based group released their debut album Wreckless Abandon on March 20th , 2020, a record that found Campbell and his bandmates employing the anthemic sound of his work with the Heartbreakers and adding the influence of vintage '60s and '70s sounds as well as a touch of blues . The album featured notable guest contributions, as it included musical contributions from Chris Stapleton and Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, was produced by George Drakoulias, and featured artwork created by Plastic Ono Band bassist Klaus Voormann . The lineup that carried the band to this milestone consisted of Campbell alongside singer-guitarist Jason Sinay, bassist Lance Morrison and drummer Matt Laug , a unit whose chemistry had been built over nearly two decades of informal gigging.
The band's momentum continued through a steady run of albums and evolving billing. Working again with co-producer George Drakoulias, the Dirty Knobs recorded a second album in three weeks during the summer of 2021, and the resulting External Combustion broadened the group's musical reach with a greater reliance on overdubs and '60s pop tricks, along with cameos by Ian Hunter and Margo Price; when the record was released in March 2022, Mike Campbell moved his name above his band's on the credits, so it became officially credited to Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs . Personnel shifted again not long after, as Sinay left the band in 2022 to focus on solo material, with Chris Holt, also a Don Henley collaborator, stepping in masterfully as his replacement . Then in 2023 the lineup turned over once more, as Matt Laug and Chris Holt left the band, and Steve Ferrone and Jason Sinay returned to the group, while Lance Morrison continued to play bass , a configuration unveiled on the acclaimed 2024 album Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, which critics praised as a steadfast, deeply rewarding trove of rock and roll featuring some of the best songs he's ever written .
Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs remain active and prolific well into the 2020s, with the band's current, settled lineup featuring Steve Ferrone, the Brighton-born drummer who kept the beat for the Heartbreakers for over 20 years, now a permanent fixture behind the kit, Chris Holt providing second guitar, keys and harmonies, and bassist Lance Morrison, whom Campbell calls "our secret weapon" . Their latest release, Mission of Mercy, continues to build the band's legacy, as it once again explores and expands the sound and style that Mike Campbell helped pioneer, a collection of guitar driven rockers and reflections that finds Campbell loosening his grip on the boogie with forays into bongos, jazz and even strings . Campbell himself has been candid about what keeps the project going after a career defined by his work alongside Tom Petty, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, and a stint in Fleetwood Mac, saying simply that he really loves doing it and wants to get better, that keeping having fun is what matters, and that it's just so much fun to play in a band, with nothing else like it . Decades after starting as a bar band side project, the Dirty Knobs have become a genuine second chapter in Campbell's legendary career, carrying the raw, unpolished spirit of classic rock forward for a new generation of listeners.
For this archive, the Dirty Knobs occupy a special place among the bands Wayne Dennon captured through his lens. Wayne photographed the group for a single show back in 2007, years before the band ever released an album or toured widely outside Los Angeles, making his images a rare glimpse of the Dirty Knobs in their formative, under the radar years. That one night resulted in 34 photographs preserved here, images that have since drawn 25,714 views from visitors exploring this memorial to Wayne's work, a testament to how a quiet side project once
