Originals and Covers by ‘Under The Radar’ Band Delight Fans
By DONNA BALANCIA
Mike Campbell and his band The Dirty Knobs have vast riches: Their fans are more precious than gold.
“We love Mike, we have been following him for years,” said Cheryl Marino and her husband Bill Drews. “We see him when he plays in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, we’ve seen Mudcrutch and we love The Dirty Knobs. We’re true ‘Knob Heads.'”
The Dirty Knobs band may be a “side” project for Campbell with his band mates Jason Sinay, Matt Laug on drums and Lance Morrison on bass, but it’s front and center to the audience.
“This band is under the radar but we have a very solid group of fans,” Campbell told CaliforniaRocker.com.
“It’s a small group but they’re extremely devoted.”
Campbell and Sinay
Campbell is a prolific songwriter whose work has been performed and recorded by everyone from The Eagles to Stevie Nicks not to mention his own Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. In addition, he’s performed with or produced more artists than most people can name. Check out his work at Allmusic.com
Sinay, known as Ape, is no slouch as he has been establishing himself as a working musician over the years.
We recently came across his solo LP on which he has an assortment of impressive originals and covers.
Dirty Knobs Keep it Fresh
The Dirty Knobs like to change it up. When we saw them at The Echo a year ago it was a different crowd than it was at the Canyon Club and the set list showed that. The Canyon show wrapped with Jimi Hendrix, which was “off the set list,” as Mike said. But other tunes included “Easy Wind,” by the Grateful Dead,” and even “Hippy Hippy Shake.”
The Dirty Knobs haven’t recorded an EP and it doesn’t look likely in the near future, but if they did it would likely be in their casual style.
Opener Marc Ford, taking a page out of Campbell’s book, sported a felt fedora and had the audience on its feet with a strong performance.
The Dirty Knobs play on Dec. 11 at The Rose in Pasadena.
