“I use a lot of chords with open strings. The guys in the Heartbreakers used to laugh at me, saying, ‘You’re doing the bagpipes again!’” Mike Campbell on his unorthodox guitar style – and how Tom Petty saved his definitive Breakdown lick

Mike Campbell of the Dirty Knobs, in hat, shades, guitar in hand.

Mike Campbell first tasted fame in the late ’70s as the lead guitarist in Tom Petty’s backing band The Heartbreakers.

He has worked with Stevie Nicks, Johnny Cash and the Eagles’ Don Henley, co-writing the latter’s ’80s classic The Boys Of Summer. And after touring with Fleetwood Mac in 2018-19, he has made three albums with his cheekily-named band The Dirty Knobs.