Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers An American Band
Lakeland Ledger - Friday, November 17, 1978

I just got "You're Gonna Get It" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and really like the album. Can you tell me something about him? Is he English?
A: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers first came to public attention in England, but they're definitely an American band, a product of the music Petty listened to when he was a teen-ager in Gainesville, Fla. -- the Byrds, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Petty began playing with local bands in Gainesville at the age of 14, and went through close to a dozen groups before forming Mudcrutch with Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, who play today in the Heartbreakers. Mudcrutch relocated in Los Angeles in 1973, and caught the ear of Shelter Records president Denny Cordell.

Problems caused the group to split, and in 1975, Petty formed another group -- the Heartbreakers.