When John Hiatt sits down with his guitar to compose, he never knows what he is about to create. First, he strums a bit until a melody or chord structure strikes his fancy. Then he starts singing what he terms “nonsense.” Before long, pictures begin circling his mind and a story emerges. Washington is about to discover the stories within “The Open Road,” his latest album, when he and his pal Lyle Lovett come to the Birchmere for three evenings of acoustic music, banter and the comfortable camaraderie that sets them apart.

Hiatt is anything but Johnny one-note. He plays, sings and writes in a variety of styles that have earned him the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting by the Americana Music Association in 2008, the Songwriter/Artist of the Year at the 2000 Nashville Music Awards and more Grammy nominations than can be counted on the fingers of both hands.