LOS ANGELES, CA. (By
Heidi Ellen Robinson-Fitzgerald) -
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers will embark on their 2006 North American "Highway Companions Tour" on June 9 in Charlotte, N.C. The band will be joined along the way by an exciting list of friends and guests that will include a series of very special shows with
Pearl Jam, some shows with special guest Trey Anastasio, and others with the Allman Brothers Band. Expect further announcements soon of additional special guests and opening acts who will be on selected dates.
As part of their summer tour, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Petty/vocals, guitars; Mike Campbell/guitars; Benmont Tench/keyboards; Ron Blair/bass; Scott Thurston/guitars, harmonica, backing vocals; and Steve Ferrone/drums - will headline the Bonnaroo Festival on Friday, June 16, and the Austin City Limits Festival on Sunday, September 17.
Petty is putting the finishing touches on his third solo album, "Highway Companion," which is produced by Jeff Lynne with Tom Petty and Mike Campbell, and will be released this summer.
Academy Award-winning director/screenwriter Peter Bogdanovich ("The Last Picture Show," "Paper Moon," "Mask") has started working on a comprehensive feature film/documentary about the band's three-decades-long history. Given unparalleled access to the band, Bogdanovich will intertwine vintage interviews, videos and live performances with special footage that he began shooting late last year. "We shot New Year's Eve at Mike Campbell's house," said Bogdanovich. "We've gone into the studio with Tom while he did voice-overs for his 'King of The Hill' role; recorded his XM Satellite radio show; we'll be there when he headlines Bonnaroo; and we've already started to conduct new interviews with Tom, the band, with long-time associates, journalists, and other people who have played a role during the past thirty years.
"I want to tell this very American story about a small family of musicians who jumped in a car, left Gainesville and drove cross-country to get into the record business," explained Bogdanovich. "How they did it, what happened to them as a result, how this affected their families and friends, and the impact their music has had on the music industry and on millions of people's lives. We'll take you through it all, the early Shelter Records days, touring with Bob Dylan, the Grammys and other awards, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, working with Johnny Cash in the recording studio, and the Traveling Wilburys." No title or release information has been set.
Last summer's Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' tour proved to be one of the band's most successful in their long career. Without a new CD to promote, they played to sell-out crowds totaling more than 750,000 fans; Rolling Stone's glowing article on the success of the tour prompted the headline "Tom Petty Rules the Road," and Joel Selvin of the San Francisco Chronicle declared, "Tom Petty is rock aristocracy."
Over the past thirty years, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers have sold more than 50 million records and been nominated for 16 Grammy Awards. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, the first year they were eligible, and this past December, Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong presented Petty with the Billboard Century Award at the Billboard Music Awards saying, "If you're going to come up and thank god, thank god for Tom Petty." In this 2006 season, Petty reprises his ongoing role as "Lucky" on the long-running Fox animated TV series "King of the Hill," and he is in the middle of the second season of his critically acclaimed XM Satellite Radio Show, "Tom Petty's Buried Treasure."
The confirmed first leg is below; dates for leg two (July/August with the Allman Brothers Band) and leg three (September/October) will be announced shortly.
JUNE
9 Verizon Amphitheatre, Charlotte, N.C. (w/ Trey Anastasio)
10 Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA (w/ Trey Anastasio)
12 Harbor Center, Portsmouth, VA (w/ Trey Anastasio)
14 Polaris Amphitheatre, Columbus, OH (w/ Trey Anastasio)
16 Bonnaroo Festival, Manchester, TN
17 UMB Bank Pavilion, Louis, MO (w/ Trey Anastasio)
20 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (w/ Trey Anastasio)
21 Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA (w/ Trey Anastasio)
23 Verizon Amphitheatre, Indianapolis, IN (w/ Trey Anastasio)
26-27 Xcel Center, St. Paul, MN (w/ Pearl Jam)
29-30 Marcus Amphitheatre, Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI (w/ Pearl Jam)
JULY
2-3 Pepsi Center, Denver, CO (with Pearl Jam)
