Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are known for blending country, blues, pop, punk and doo-wop into an Americana stew.  On their new release, Mojo, they go back to their Gulf Coast roots and emerge with an album drenched in blues as black as the BP oil goo!  No more are the pop melodies of the past; Tom Petty’s nasal voice is still a familiar comfort but here the blues reigns king with lead guitarist Mike Campbell selling his soul at the crossroads.  His guitar is like another voice, unleashed, with nods to the great guitar gods of the past.

Like other great blues bands, the Heartbreakers understand that honoring the blues with true grit and spirit is the only way to do the genre justice.  They sound honest and at home. With each listen, the album becomes richer and more complex than the simple blues scales.  They drift into jam band land, getting lost in a place, like an old photograph from somewhere in the past. Sounds of The Doors and Zeppelin can be heard.  Dylan-esque folk phrases can be found. All in all this is a band that knows who they are, knows where they’ve been and knows where they are going. – Jason Philabaum Tom Petty will play Blossom Music Center on July 20th.