Chris Stapleton Teases New Music With Mike Campbell Of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
Chris Stapleton told Rolling Stone that he’s been working on new music with Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Stapleton offered before performing at Keith Urban’s All For The Hall benefit concert in Nashville Monday (2/10), “He’s (Mike Campbell) probably my favorite guitar player of all time. To sit around with him and write some songs has been cool. We did some last year too.”
He adds, “I don’t want to make any promises, but there is probably some new music on the way.”
You may recall that a few years back, Stapleton and Tom Petty had a minor conflict of sorts, after Petty criticized current country music in an interview with Rolling Stone.
Stapleton responded to Petty via an open letter, “I think it’s safe to say most modern country artists, including me, would list you as an influence. Your recent comments lead me to believe you see room for improvement in modern country music. I, for one, would like to see you put you money where your mouth is in a tangible way. So, in the interest of making country music less “s–tty” (your words), I suggest a collaboration. I’m extending an open invitation to you to write songs with me, produce recordings on or with me, or otherwise participate in whatever way you see fit in my little corner of music.”
Chris ended up getting to tour with Petty and told us after the rock legend’s passing in 2017, “I got to spend a few minutes with Tom, talking, and the last thing he said to me was, ‘I hope we get to do more of this.’ I left there thinking that we would get to do more of it, and I’m so heartbroken and sad that he’s no longer with us. He’s given us so much music — and brought so much joy to so many people who have listened to his songs and his songwriting, and his singing and his guitar playing.”
He added “I would not trade anything for those shows, and that brief moment I got to speak with Tom. It was a highlight of the year for me.”
Chris has also been recording in Nashville at RCA Studio A with producer Dave Cobb.
Stapleton also touched on his upcoming “American Road Show” tour and the much talked about opening acts, saying, “We wanted to get the Highwomen in there because they hadn’t played many shows. I was talking to Jason [Isbell] in the hallway with Amanda [Shires] and he said, ‘I’m gonna come out for that.’” Amanda Shires is a member of the Highwomen, and is also a solo artist; she also plays in her husband Jason Isbell’s band. He returns the favor by playing guitar in the Highwomen. (Dave Cobb also produces records for Isbell, Shires and the Highwomen).