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.
| If you go |
| Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt |
| Where: The Birchmere |
| When: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday (Sunday show sold out but may be available through resellers) |
| Info: $110; 703-549-7500 or birchmere.com |
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.
His songs are snatched up and covered by many top artists, among them Bob Dylan, the Neville Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Three Dog Night and Nick Lowe. Whether the style is country, blues, rock or folk, his philosophical lyrics linger in the mind.
In “The Open Road,” Hiatt travels a two-lane highway in an imaginary truck while peering through the rearview mirror. The musical journey is propelled throughout by the distinctive and unfailing beats of drummer Kenny Blevins. The initial wild and energizing sprints of “Haulin’?” and the title song take a breather as “Like a Freight Train” slows down long enough for a glance back at life. Then the speed picks up with the danceable “My Baby” and “Movin’ On,” culminating in the happy-ever-after “Carry You Back Home.”
One of the most haunting songs in “The Open Road” is based on a true story that took place on the Tennessee farm where Hiatt lives. The western flavor of “Homeland” harks back to the spirits that seemed to materialize whenever he and his family neared a certain section of their farm.
“My sons and I began to believe that spirits who weren’t able to rest were hanging out there,” he said. “We sensed that something had happened on that spot but couldn’t find any historical accounts of an unusual local event, so we contacted friends who belong to the Iroquois tribe in Canada. The wife is a medicine woman, and the husband is a medicine man. They volunteered to come down to investigate and discovered that some kind of slaughter happened there about 300 years ago involving an indigenous tribe, French trappers and English soldiers. Our friends performed a ceremony, invited the spirits in for a meal and sent them on their way happy.”
Stories like that are bound to flow freely whenever Hiatt and Lovett get together on stage. Their first joint appearance in 1989 came after they were introduced by Bill Ivey, former head of National Endowment for the Arts under President Clinton and now the director of Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University. The friendship blossomed, and today their joint concerts are eagerly anticipated by fans and the two stars alike.
“Lyle and I like each other and can relax for a couple of hours when we perform together,” Hiatt said. “People like that, and audiences enjoy having a couple of guys telling jokes and playing music.”
