John Hiatt is set to return with The Eclipse Sessions on October 12th, 2018 via New West Records. The 11-track set is the Grammy nominated legend’s first new album in four years. It was produced by Kevin McKendree (Delbert McClinton) and features Hiatt’s longtime drummer Kenneth Blevins and bassist Patrick O’Hearn, as well as Yates McKendree (Kevin’s then 16-year old wunderkind son, who also engineered). Hiatt places The Eclipse Sessions in a lineage alongside two of his greatest works — 1987’s mainstream breakthrough Bring the Family, which sprung from an impulsive four-day session with an all-star combo led by Ry Cooder, and 2000’s Crossing Muddy Waters, an unplanned and largely unplugged effort that garnered a Grammy Award nomination and also set Hiatt on the rootsier path he’s still pursuing today. “The three albums are very connected in my mind,” Hiatt says. “They all have a vibe to them that was unexpected. I didn’t know where I was going when I started out on any of them. And each one wound up being a pleasant surprise.”
Since the release of Hiatt’s 1974 debut, Hangin’ Around the Observatory, rarely has more than a year or two passed without a new collection hitting the shelves. But after wrapping up a year of touring in support of 2014’s Terms of My Surrender — the singer-songwriter’s 22nd studio effort overall — he found himself, for the first time in a long time, unsure of what would come next. “I’ve been lost before,” Hiatt says. “Although usually I have some sort of notion or clue where to go. But this time? I had no sense whatsoever.” He continues, “I wanted to spend more time with my family (which includes his critically acclaimed singer-songwriter daughter Lilly). I was aging, with all that entails or doesn’t entail. Stuff was just happening.” During this period of transition Hiatt did compose a new song that closes The Eclipse Sessions – a dusty, road-worn meditation titled “Robber’s Highway” with the ominously prophetic lyrics “I had words, chords and strings / now I don’t have any of these things.” Hiatt explains, “I was just thinking in terms of somebody who’s out there hammerin’ away with his music, wondering what it’s all coming to. And maybe the songs just aren’t there anymore…” Fast-forward a few years, however, and it’s clear the songs are still very much there as the 11 tracks presented here demonstrate that the singer-songwriter, now 66-years-old, is only getting better with age, his guitar playing more rugged and rootsy, his words wiser and more wry.
True to its title, Hiatt and his band were hard at work on August 21st, 2017 when a solar eclipse traveled the length of the continental U.S. “I think we recorded three songs that day, and then we took a break to go outside and watch everything happen,” Hiatt says. What he observed amongst his fellow Nashvillians during that moment of totality — his city was one of a few spots in the U.S. to be plunged into near complete darkness — did give him pause. “It seemed everything stopped for a minute or two,” he says. “It was like a magical little bit of time, a harmonic convergence or something. Like everybody was on the same page.”
There’s a grit to these songs — a craggy, perfectly-imperfect quality that colors every aspect of the performances, right down to Hiatt’s vocals, which are quite possibly his most raw and expressive to date. Hiatt has just premiered the album’s lead off track “Cry To Me” which can be heard below…
Hiatt has also announced his initial tour dates in support of The Eclipse Sessions, which launch Saturday, October 20th in New Orleans, LA at the House of Blues. Preceding The Eclipse Sessions Tour, John Hiatt and The Goners featuring Sonny Landreth will perform live dates throughout August celebrating the 30th anniversary of his 1998 album, Slow Turning (Please see all dates below).
John Hiatt The Eclipse Sessions Track Listing:
- Cry To Me
- All The Way To The River
- Aces Up Your Sleeve
- Poor Imitation Of God
- Nothing In My Heart
- Over The Hill
- Outrunning My Soul
- Hide Your Tears
- The Odds Of Loving You
- One Stiff Breeze
- Robber’s Highway
John Hiatt On Tour:
August 18th – Raleigh, NC – Duke Energy Center **
August 20th – Alexandria, VA – Birchmere Music Hal **
August 21st Alexandria, VA – Birchmere Music Hall **
August 22nd – Frederick, MD – Weinberg Center for the Arts **
August 24th – Albany, NY – The Egg Center for the Performing Arts **
August 25th – Portland, ME – State Theatre **
August 26th – Westhampton Beach, NY – Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center **
August 28th – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater **
August 30th – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia Festival **
August 31st – Washburn, WI – Big Top Chautauqua **
September 1st – Minneapolis, MN – Pantages Theatre **
October 20th – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
October 21st – Atlanta, GA – City Winery
October 22nd – Atlanta, GA – City Winery
October 26th – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head On Stage
October 27th – Wilmington, DE – The Queen
October 29th – New York, NY – City Winery
October 30th – New York, NY – City Winery
October 31st – New York, NY – City Winery
November 2nd – Beverly, MA – The Cabot Theater
November 3rd – Plymouth, NH – Flying Monkey @ Lebanon Opera House
November 4th – Homer, NY – Center for the Arts
November 6th – Ottawa, ONT – Centerpointe Theatre
November 7th – Toronto, ONT – Bluma Appel Theatre
November 9th – Carmel, IN – Palladium – The Ctr for the Perf Arts
November 13th – Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre
November 14th – Nashville, TN – City Winery
November 15th – Nashville, TN – City Winery
** John Hiatt and The Goners featuring Sonny Landreth:
