Hiatt on life
Legendary roots musician enjoying his second wind
By darryl Sterdan
John Hiatt is not a man of his word -- not if you go by his CD titles, anyway. Case in point: The veteran roots-rock singer-songwriter's latest disc is called Beneath This Gruff Exterior. But when we caught up to him at a hotel in Oregon last week, the hickory-voiced 51-year-old was gentle as a lamb, happily answering all of our impertinent questions about his past record, his current acoustic tour that stops at the Burton Cummings Theatre next week, and his future goals. Oh, and why he travels under an assumed name.
SUN: I've been interviewing musicians for years, and you're the first one we've met who uses an alias. Are there Hiatt stalkers, or are you just skipping out on the bill?
HIATT (laughing): There is always the potential of me doing a runner, depending on how much they pay me. You gotta have a contingency plan, you know?
Plenty of critics -- or at least me, in any case -- have been using the word rejuvenated to describe you lately. How does that sit with you?
That'll be just fine. What a good thing to have happen, to feel rejuvenated. Of course, I never really felt unjuvenated. But second winds are always good -- you gotta keep rocking.
What's behind this second wind?
Gaining free agency status turned into a good thing for me -- getting out of the indentured servitude I was under. Being signed to multi-album deals with major labels was kind of a rut. But since 2000, I've been able to make records on my own terms and own them. I make what I want to make when I want to make it and lease the product to the label of my choosing.
Your last couple of albums have been full-band, electric affairs with The Goners. So why are you on a solo acoustic tour?
I toured with The Goners all last year. And we were kinda done with it. And (slide guitarist) Sonny Landreth, of course, makes his own records and is doing some of his own dates this summer. And believe it or not, I never had a whole tour solo before.
How much of your back catalogue are you doing?
I've got a list that keeps growing and I've got about 75 things on it. Every night, I'll think of a song I want to do, and I have to go on the Net and look up the lyrics. And if the audience yells out stuff, I'll do requests -- if I can remember the song. That's been the most fun for me -- I just go up and it's serendipitous. I'm just winging it. It's unprofessional (laughs). But I've been professional for too damn long. It's time to get funky.
How is your relationship with Thing Called Love? Are you slightly jealous that your biggest hit was recorded by someone else?
Hell, no. That's what helped me raise my children. That sent them to college. Why would I be jealous of that? That was a godsend. We've got the Bonnie Raitt Memorial Children's Room at home.You've been making records for 30 years. How are the goals of a 51-year-old John Hiatt different from the 21-year-old version?
You just know that you're running out of time. Time becomes the essence and all the other s-- falls by the wayside -- worrying about your station and the perception of where your star is and all that. The focus becomes the music and the art and doing it. Going out and playing -- that's the big thrill for me now.
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Review:
Hiatt treats fans to intimate evening
By ROB WILLIAMS
Winnipeg Sun
JOHN HIATT
Burton Cummings Theatre, Winnipeg
Wednesday, August 4, 2004
WINNIPEG -- John Hiatt took Winnipeggers on a trip down south last night.
With stories and images of creeks, deltas, rattlesnakes, poverty and cotton, the Nashville singer-songwriter treated a faithful crowd of 800 at the Burton Cummings Theatre to a vision of his world where dreams consist of getting off the street, the tiki bar is always open and your true love is the person sitting in the seat beside you.
Hiatt started off with the love song, Drive South, before venturing into two songs off his latest album, Beneath His Gruff Exterior, Fly Back Home and the Most Unoriginal Sin.
He switched between newer songs and classics all night. With 18 albums to his credit, Hiatt could have played as long as he wanted, and the crowd would have held onto every word, whether he was singing tender odes about relationships (both good and bad), flying off into the night or leaving it all behind for a new start.
He is touring without a band and the 51-year-old seemed almost vulnerable standing alone on stage with his acoustic guitar belting out his heartfelt Americana, even though many of his songs don't refer to himself in the first person.
Hiatt is an amazing songwriter with an expressive voice, but sometimes the music lacked the punch and power a full band would have provided.
No matter. In the end it was an intimate evening, especially during songs like Crossing Muddy Water, Buffalo River Home and the self-confessional Real Fine Love.
At press time Hiatt traded in his guitar for the piano and was reminiscing about his Catholic parents and going to confession as a kid, even though he didn't have any sins to confess.
"I used to think I had to make (stuff) up; I just didn't feel that bad. In fact, it made me feel bad I had to make (stuff) up," he said to howls of laughter before launching into Good Enough for Love.
The appreciative crowd did think he was good enough to love and Hiatt will always be welcomed back with or without a band.
The evening opened with an earnest, but ultimately unexciting, 40 minute set by Austin, Texas, singer-songwriter John Dee Graham, who emitted a certain amount of charm with his gruff, Tom Waits-like voice and battered guitar and fedora. It made him look like he could have been busking in front of the theatre before walking on stage.