Stan Lynch’s career has had three acts: drummer with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, producer/songwriter for Don Henley, The Mavericks and more. Now, at age 70, he’s a member of The Speaker Wars, whose hard-edged Americana sound adds the best of Lynch’s experience and returns him to the kit. “It’s good to have my old job back,” he says.

We caught up with Lynch for a chat about everything from learning the secret of the groove to attending a Frank Sinatra concert with Bob Dylan.

I’ve had no plan my entire life! The last thing I remember, I was playing at a topless bar and had a Volkswagen bus and a hundred bucks. Then I remember driving to Los Angeles when I was nineteen – same Volkswagen bus, same hundred bucks [laughs]. I just allow myself to stay busy, and trip and fall into the next joyful thing. That’s what The Speaker Wars is.

In the Heartbreakers, Tom always said: “We gotta get the feel, Stan.” Our first producer, Denny Cordell, was the same. He took me to a Bob Marley & The Wailers concert, and Marley was hypnotising the room. Denny said: “That’s what a groove is.” Denny also had a Ferrari Daytona. He’d say: “Get in and drive. Now, gun it! You feel that? That’s the groove.”

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He invited me into his world of how he creates songs. He’s a poet, and a badass. He sees the world through a filter that’s really divine. He said: “Stan, a song has to work from the neck up and the waist down.” Great advice.

The Heartbreakers were on tour with Bob, and I had tickets to see Frank and Sammy Davis. No one wanted to go, except Bob. There’s Bob in the second row, wearing his Unabomber sweatshirt, hiding as best he can. During the break, someone came up to me because they figured I must be Bob’s bodyguard, and said: “Come by the dressing room. Frank and Sammy want to say hi.” I asked Bob. He made the perfect face, and said: “No, let’s get the fuck out of here!” He was always this wonderful contrarian, flying in his own atmosphere. Fearless and courageous, the baddest rock star I ever had the pleasure of backing up.

At the Hall Of Fame induction. I was certainly the odd man out at that point. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me telling Tom how much he meant to me, what a difference all those cats made in my life. I had to literally grab him by the back of the shirt to tell him I loved him. Tom set me up for a whole life in music.

It’s the only music I know. You put me behind the drums, I have a very narrow lane. It’s going to sound like the Heartbreakers or The Speaker Wars. I’m not really worried about being a flag bearer. I’m more: “This is what I do. This is what’s fun!”

Bill DeMain is a correspondent for BBC Glasgow, a regular contributor to MOJO, Classic Rock and Mental Floss, and the author of six books, including the best-selling Sgt. Pepper At 50. He is also an acclaimed musician and songwriter who's written for artists including Marshall Crenshaw, Teddy Thompson and Kim Richey. His songs have appeared in TV shows such as Private Practice and Sons of Anarchy. In 2013, he started Walkin' Nashville, a music history tour that's been the #1 rated activity on Trip Advisor. An avid bird-watcher, he also makes bird cards and prints.