Майк Кэмпбелл из Heartbreakers представит музыку Тома Петти в симфоническом исполнении в Атланте

Credit: Courtesy of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Section Branding Header Content Heartbreaker Mike Campbell goes symphonic at exclusive Atlanta concert Primary Content GPB’s Kristi York Wooten goes behind the scenes with Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as they prepare for a one-of-a-kind event. Plus: Blackberry Smoke Singer Charlie Starr weighs in on the Heartbreakers' legacy. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra revisits classic rock hits next weekend with one of the South’s most enduring guitarists and songwriters. Before Mike Campbell co-wrote songs like "Boys of Summer" with the Eagles' Don Henley, joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, toured as a member of Fleetwood Mac, and created his own band, The Dirty Knobs, he was guitarist and "co-captain" of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from the 1970s until Petty's untimely death in 2017. Other artists have performed Petty's music with orchestras, but Campbell's appearance with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on Sept.12 at Symphony Hall is the only gig of its kind. The special event with guest Sarah Lee Guthrie features instrumental takes on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Running Down a Dream," "Refugee," and many more, making it a must-see for superfans of the band. The Dirty Knobs released their fourth album, Mission of Mercy, earlier this year, but the symphony event is separate from their current tour and does not involve the band. This is an orchestral experience featuring Campbell and his songs in the spotlight. He has mulled the opportunity for years. "I thought it would be interesting to take our songs from the decades, the Heartbreakers' hits and some deep tracks, and realize them with a full orchestra and no singing—I play guitar here and there," Campbell said in an interview with GPB. "I asked my manager to see if there was any interest from orchestras. And he came back and said, 'Atlanta wants to do it.' It'll be an experiment. I think it'll be exciting. And if it goes well, I may do more down the line." The memorable 1982 hit "You Got Lucky," an oft-interpreted song with unique syncopation, was mentioned in Campbell's 2025 memoir, Heartbreaker, and is featured on the set list with the Atlanta Symphony. Atlanta band Blackberry Smoke toured with Mike Campbell and recorded the tune with musician Amanda Shires on violin in 2018. Lead vocalist and guitarist Charlie Starr said neither his band nor Shires are a part of Campbell's performance with the symphony, but he's happy to weigh in on how these Southern sounds are being reimagined. "We did 'You Got Lucky,' and we did it with Wurlitzer instead of the synth. And we were all playing acoustic guitars, but we didn't make it our own," Starr told GPB. "We played that arrangement. We may have played a little slower, just because we were sitting [laughs]. The fiddle played Mike's guitar lick. Fast forward to [our supporting slot on a 2025 Dirty Knobs tour] with Mike, and we played it the way we all know it on [Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' classic album] Long After Dark. And nothing has thrilled me more." Campbell said the process of preparing for the symphony performance has been a mix of memory lane and imagining new paths for old songs. "'You Got Lucky' is one of my favorite songs that Tom and I wrote," Campbell recalled. "I wrote all the music, and he wrote the words over it. And it was written in my studio years ago. I had a drum loop of real drums to be my track. I had [Heartbreakers keyboard player Benmont Tench's] synthesizer at my house that day. So I was just playing, you know, stupid three-note dat, dat, dat's, that was all I can do. And then I made a little demo of it, and I really liked it. And it's in a minor key with some nice, melodic movement in it." Campbell said he worked with arranger Patrick Warren on the music charts for the ASO performance: "When I heard the string arrangement of 'You Got Lucky,' it sounded like it was written for strings. And I played a solo on the guitar with the vibrato arm. It's quite a thrill to see that go from here in my little bedroom to the Atlanta Symphony." Michael Kurth has played bass for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 1994 and is also a prominent contemporary classical composer. He grew up in Baltimore listening to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. "'Breakdown,' that's my favorite," he told GPB in a phone call. "That's my absolute favorite song [of Petty's]. You're looking for that resonance within yourself of what the songwriter, the composer, or the performer is feeling or was feeling when they wrote it. It's really a beautiful cycle," he said. "Like a sort of harmonic convergence of beauty and joy. And music is magic that way. Very little else can capture thousands of people in a moment in time with just sound. All it is is waves in the air, but it's a magical process." Jennifer Barlament is the ASO's executive director. "There are all sorts of artists from all genres who are interested in working with orchestras now," she told GPB. "And one of the advantages—and why they want to come to Atlanta— is because we've built this track record of doing creative collaborations. I think for artists, if you imagine what it's like to have a full symphony orchestra behind you, it is a whole different sound." Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed in Atlanta at least two dozen times across their four-decade run, building as many live memories with their listeners as recorded ones. Special events like the symphony collaboration reinforce music's impact on fans who grew up with Campbell and Petty compositions as the soundtrack to Southern lives, said Blackberry Smoke's Starr. "In a band, if we go to Europe or to South America and play a Skynyrd song or a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song or an Allman Brothers song or Marshall Tucker Band song, it kind of feels like we're playing something that belongs to us," he said. "Like, 'Here, enjoy some of our cooking.' And it is. There's a familiarity to it that hits me — and where I live — deep inside." Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers spent most of their careers in Los Angeles, where Mike Campbell still lives. He said the band will always be tied to its roots. "We were in our early 20s [when we left Florida for California]. I mean, how could I not carry it with me, you know?" he said. "You can take the boy out of the country. You can't take the country out of the boy. So it's part of my DNA. And I grew up in Orlando and Jacksonville. I don't have a very strong Southern accent, but it's in there. The South, maybe rightfully so, gets a bad rap for certain things. And of course, that's one side of that story. But Southern people are generally very humble and hospitable and friendly. And that's the type of people I grew up around." Campbell said he promises the Atlanta Symphony Hall audience an experience they won't get anywhere else. "Into the Great Wide Open" sounded really good with the big strings," he said of the songs he's planning for the evening. "From our [fourth] album, 'You Can Still Change Your Mind,' which is very symphonic, and of course, 'Good Enough.' And 'First Flash of Freedom' is pretty intense. [The concert] is a collection of songs that most people will know, like 'Here Comes My Girl,' 'A Woman in Love (It's Not Me),' 'Free Fallin',' 'I Won't Back Down,' and a couple of deeper tracks like 'Can't Stop the Sun.' These will be my songs, the ones that I wrote with Tom and a few that he wrote on his own that are part of our record legacy. And people will recognize them. When they hear them, hopefully they'll be inspired to sing along." 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