Michael J - “American Girl” live at Gator Growl 2002 - Ben Hill Griffin Stadium - Gainesville, FL

It’s been 7 years since we lost Tom Petty, one of my all-time musical heroes. It will also consequently be 22 years next month that I got to perform Petty’s “American Girl” at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL for Gator Growl 2002 to a crowd of 56,000+ along with my dear friends/brothers/family Chris Nix, Tom Hurst, and Ronny Cates. I was playing 6 nights a week at that time and had blown my voice out the night before. It probably also had something to do with the amount I drank during that gig 🙄, so I’m screaming my guts out on this, but I think it served the performance. We did this with no rehearsal on the fly and it was such a blast. Enjoy!