Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs - External Combustion (2022)

Mike Campbell co-produced the follow-up to 2020’s Wreckless Abandon with George Drakoulias. Recorded last summer at Campbell’s home studio in Los Angeles, Hocus Pocus Recorders, the album features guest appearances from Margo Price and Ian Hunter (of Mott the Hoople). Additionally, the guitarist and bandmates Jason Sinay (guitar), bassist Lance Morrison and drummer Matt Laug are joined by Campbell’s fellow Heartbreakers co-founding member Benmont Tench on piano for the track “Lightning Boogie.”
“The band became this spontaneous type of combustion—to borrow a word,” stated Campbell in a press release regarding the group’s evolution. “The longer we played, the more intuitive it got.” While most of the material on External Combustion was penned by Mike Campbell during the past year, the album also features two songs written in the 1990’s that the guitarist rediscovered in his vast cache of unreleased compositions.