BMG recording artists Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs have announced they will be headlining the highly anticipated summer music festival, Happy Face.
On May 28, guitarist and songwriter Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac) will perform with his band The Dirty Knobs as part of his nationwide tour, celebrating the release of their second album, External Combustion.
The new album 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.
Co-produced by Campbell and George Drakoulias (The Black Crowes, The Jayhawks), the 11-track album was recorded at Campbell’s home studio 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 has finally embarked on their first-ever national tour, 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.”
Simi Valley residents will have the opportunity to hear Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs as the headline performer at the new Cajun Festival reboot, now known as the Happy Face Music Festival.
Tickets to the show are available through the festival website: www.happyfacemusicfest.com
