Sure, he doesn’t write the hits that he had decades ago, but he still has an ear for melody and an eye for tomorrow. But what I’ve really come to realize and appreciate about a songwriter like Petty is how consistent he’s been throughout his 45-year career. When he revisited Mudcrutch in 2008, it felt like a homecoming for me, and 2010’s jammy Mojo was quite similar, only things shifted a little deeper into the swamp. (Fun fact: I was fortunate enough to catch his historic hometown show in Gainesville that fall, and it’s still one of the best performances I’ve ever witnessed.)Ĭhicago’s been my home for seven years, but I’ve never shaken off the imagery of Petty’s music. The smoky claustrophobia, laced with a light Southern mindset, brought so much of his music to life for me, from his 1976 self-titled debut all the way up to his 2006 solo album, Highway Companion, which he dropped just before I would leave the area. I’ve always loved Tom Petty, and especially his Heartbreakers, but I never really understood where he was coming from until I drove up the peninsula and spent a few seasons in the tropical woods. When it came time to exit stage left for college, I shifted things up to Northern Florida, where the people spoke in a different accent and the lack of an ocean meant that my free time was instead spent chasing the opposite sex, drinking, driving, or listening to music. I grew up in Miami and experienced each of the four seasons at the beach, under the sun, and in my swim trunks. We’re republishing today to celebrate the career of the great Tom Petty.
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