ROUND-UP: BLUES
By Henry Yates
John Hiatt (left): blues with country flavourings.
ZACH PIGG/PRESS
John Hiatt With The Jerry Douglas Band
Leftover Feelings
NEW WEST
Arriving in Nashville in 1970, John Hiatt rented a $15-a-week fleapit within spitting distance of RCA Studios. A lifetime later, the 68-year-old arrives full circle with a live-tracked session in RCA’s Studio B.
With the spirits of Elvis and Waylon in the air, lap-steel master Jerry Douglas bringing crystalline twang and Christian Sedelmyer’s fiddle a constant flavour, here Hiatt’s palette tends a little towards country, but the best cuts still fall to the blues. MississippiPhoneBoothand Little Goodnighthave such sun-baked grooves that you don’t notice the lack of drums. BuddyBoyoffers a Douglas solo so heartfelt it hurts. The lyrics land, too, with Hiatt darkening LightOfTheBurning Sun’s lilt with the tale of a 21-year-old blowing his brains across the dashboard over a gambling debt. Nor is the veteran afraid of modernity: opener LongBlack ElectricCadillac might be in the Sun Records vein, but Elon Musk would be interested to hear that the titular vehicle ‘goesathousandmilesonacharge’.