Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) to Release New Solo Album

Legendary keyboard player and founding member of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Benmont Tench is set for the release of his second solo album The Melancholy Season March 7 on Dark Horse Records. Tench’s first solo effort in over a decade (following 2014’s You Should Be So Lucky), The Melancholy Season is produced by Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty, Margo Price, Billy Strings) and includes performances by Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), singer/songwriter Jenny O. and Sebastian Steinberg (Fiona Apple, Iron and Wine, Soul Coughing). Pre-order the record HERE.

In anticipation of the forthcoming release, the album’s title track “The Melancholy Season” has just debuted. Tench notes, “The meaning of the song is subject to every listener’s interpretation, but I will say that the ‘Orion’ in the song is the constellation Orion, whose arrival in the night sky above my old house always signaled the coming of colder weather, and the emotional change that came with it.” 

Tench will preview songs from the new album alongside selections from throughout his career during his upcoming residency at New York’s famed Café Carlyle from February 18-22, tickets are available HERE. Tench will also tour across the west coast this spring, with stops including two nights at Largo in Los Angeles as well as The Independent in San Francisco, the Triple Door in Seattle, Portland’s Old Church and more; see below for a complete list of dates, tickets for all tour dates are available at benmonttench.com.

In addition to the forthcoming tour dates, Tench will also be appearing as a member of the house band—led by musical director Don Was—at the MusiCares 2025 Persons of the Year Gala. This year’s event honors the Grateful Dead and features an array of special guest performers including Zac Brown, Stewart Copeland, Mick Fleetwood, Sammy Hagar, Bruce Hornsby, Norah Jones, Wynonna Judd, Dave Matthews, John Mayer and many more. See HERE for additional information on the event.

With a career spanning five decades, Tench is celebrated as one of contemporary music’s finest keyboardists, renowned for his exceptional work on the organ and piano.

Tench has not only shaped the sound of the Heartbreakers but has also contributed to an impressive array of recordings with a diverse roster of artists, including Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson, Alanis Morissette, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, the Chicks, the Replacements, John Prine, Waylon Jennings, John Fogerty, Elvis Costello, the Rolling Stones and Johnny Cash.

BENMONT TENCH TOUR DATES

February 18—New York, NY—Café Carlyle
February 19—New York, NY—Café Carlyle
February 20—New York, NY—Café Carlyle
February 21—New York, NY—Café Carlyle
February 22—New York, NY—Café Carlyle
March 12—Los Angeles, CA—Largo
March 19—Los Angeles, CA—Largo
April 2—Ojai, CA—Ojai Playhouse
April 4—Santa Cruz, CA—Kuumbwa
April 5—San Francisco, CA—The Independent
April 8—Seattle, WA—Triple Door
April 9—Portland, OR—Old Church
April 11—Grass Valley, CA—Center for the Arts
April 12—Sonoma, CA—Sebastiani Theatre

Photo credit: Josh Giroux