John Hiatt

Hiatt began his career as a songwriter for hire, earning twenty-five dollars a week to pen tracks for Tree-Music Publishing Company - despite having no formal training and being unable to write music. He began to perform live in and around his adopted hometown of Nashville, and ended up signing to Epic Records in 1973; he had a number sixteen hit during that time with ‘Sure as I’m Sitting Here’, but was dropped after his first two records for the label, ‘Hangin’ Around the Observatory’ and ‘Overcoats’, failed to sell. He remained in the wildnerness until the late seventies, when MCA signed him, and he carved out a sizeable fanbase with tracks like ‘Across the Borderline’. He subsequently moved onto Geffen, where he collaborated with Elvis Costello and released “Riding with the King”, the title track of which would be a double-platinum smash for B.B. King and Eric Clapton decades later. He was eventually dropped by Geffen, but the best was yet to come.

In the late eighties, ‘Bring the Family’ became Hiatt’s first hit album; he recorded it with Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Kelter. His next nine albums made the Billboard charts, and his fanbase grew exponentially, making him something of an institution in the Americana scene. He continues to tour and record today.