The Tom Petty Project
The Tom Petty Project

The Tom Petty Project

Kevin Brown

Overview
Episodes

Details

This is the weekly podcast that digs into the entire Tom Petty catalog song by song, album by album and includes conversations with musicians, fans, and people connected with Tom along the way.Follow me on social media:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomPettyProjectFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyprojectThreads: https://www.threads.net/@thetompettyproject(This podcast is in no way affiliated with the Tom Petty estate.)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recent Episodes

Damaged by Love
MAY 13, 2026
Damaged by Love
“There's rain on the road And the faithful have gone. In a crowd all alone, Walking 'round in a song”. It’s a great little snapshot or vignette, as Tom so often gives us, of perhaps a wedding or some other celebration at a small roadside church. That feeling of being alone in a crowd is beautifully phrased by changing the order of the words; rather than All alone in a crowd, “in a crowd all alone” feels more poetic and more deliberately focusing on the alone part rather than the crowd part. And, we have to tip our hat to Dana Petty of course here! Tom tells Paul Zollo “Dana actually helped me with two lines in that song. I was kind of stuck. It’s not something I would ordinarily do, but I said, “Hey, what would you put here? What would you say?” he then says “In a crowd all alone/Walking round in a song. That was hers”.Song : https://youtu.be/DZa8wc2uoowADDITIONAL LINKSJudge Timbers' tutorial: https://youtu.be/2ld4U8pvr3A Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tompettyproject.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyprojectYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyprojectThreads: https://www.threads.net/@thetompettyprojectBoneless Podcasting Network: https://bonelesspodcasting.comAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comThe Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve UrsellSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
play-circle icon
20 MIN
Night Driver
MAY 6, 2026
Night Driver
Night Driver is one of those perfect album tracks that you always want to hear on great records. There’s something to be said for albums where any song could basically be a single, but I tend to gravitate more towards albums that are very carefully curated around a central idea and Highway Companion is definitely one of those. This track sits on the second half of the record, coming after the euphoric Big Weekend, as a mood piece and a moment in time for the central character on the album. It’s a wonderfully restrained and melodically comfortable song!Song : https://youtu.be/7Fni5y-8wqo  REFERENCED IN THE EPISODEJudge Timbers' tutorial: https://youtu.be/y-dKJ8bIUGY Jake Thistle Fans Forever : https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1DQkHfK9mz/Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tompettyproject.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyprojectYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyprojectThreads: https://www.threads.net/@thetompettyprojectBoneless Podcasting Network: https://bonelesspodcasting.comAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comThe Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve UrsellSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
play-circle icon
24 MIN
Big Weekend
APR 15, 2026
Big Weekend
The first verse contains one of my all time favourite lyrics. Not just one of my very favourite Tom Petty lyrics, just one of my favourite lyrics full stop. And it’s not a superb piece of word play or a huge emotionally charge line. It’s not a cuttingly brilliant philosophically brilliant observation - we get that later in the song - nor is it a playfully subversive line. It’s this line; “They live in a brick house, painted white and brown.” And specifically the last half of the line; “Painted white and brown.” I know that line probably doesn’t set off the fireworks of your imagination like it does mine, but I know there are others that do the same for you and not for me. One of the most glorious things about this podcast for me is discovering those little sideroads of imagination that you guys share with me from time to time!Song : https://youtu.be/xBZr5nq0Yd0REFERENCED IN THE EPISODEDemo : https://youtu.be/kQRsDAVy3lU Judge Timbers : https://youtu.be/MKAeM8Cc1o8  Anything That’s Rock n Roll (Old Grey Whistle Test) : https://youtu.be/qJMgWiqoLn4 Anything That’s Rock n Roll (Top of the Pops) : https://youtu.be/y0mYRnPXs2U Jake Thistle Fans Forever : https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1DQkHfK9mz/Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tompettyproject.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyprojectYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyprojectThreads: https://www.threads.net/@thetompettyprojectBoneless Podcasting Network: https://bonelesspodcasting.comAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comThe Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve UrsellSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
play-circle icon
25 MIN
Turn This Car Around
APR 1, 2026
Turn This Car Around
In my mind’s eye, I see a younger couple, maybe mid to late twenties, driving an old cadillac along a dark desert highway... A kid, about 7 or 8 years is in the back seat having a bad dream: not exactly a nightmare but one of those dreams that feels you feeling really unsettled for the rest of the day once you wake up and you can’t quite remember it only, the feeling it’s left you with. The verses are the phases of the dream in which unseen forces threaten to harm the kid. The choruses are their internal monologue, reaching out to mom and dad and telling them to turn the car around, reverse course, go back to safety. Song : https://youtu.be/hi6TEnKGV_g REFERENCED IN THE EPISODEJudge Timbers' cover and guitar lesson: https://youtu.be/Igz0u_LnjNYJake Thistle Fans Forever : https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1DQkHfK9mz/   Jake's Performance on Idol : https://youtu.be/qbZN4ogTW9wDon't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyprojectBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tompettyproject.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyprojectYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyprojectThreads: https://www.threads.net/@thetompettyprojectBoneless Podcasting Network: https://bonelesspodcasting.comAll music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comThe Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell (probationary)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
play-circle icon
25 MIN