John Hiatt: the colossus in the shadow of Americana
The 74-year-old musician, a genuine reference thanks to his personal style, will be honored by major figures of country such as Rosanne Cash, Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell in Nashville
It’s always better to pay tributes before the honoree kicks the bucket. However, more often than not it happens the other way around: you have to wait until someone is six feet under for them to truly be missed and viewed as deserving of a tribute. John Hiatt, who is still alive at 74 and still relevant with several remarkable records to his name, will be honored in November in Nashville.
Titled Riding with the King, the tribute will take place at the Grand Ole Opry House (Ryman Auditorium) in Nashville, Tennessee. The venue is the great house of country music in the United States, the now-legendary place where cowboy music emerged as the country’s most representative sound and where, among others, the careers of Hank Williams, The Carter Family, Patsy Cline and the recently departed Dolly Parton were catapulted to fame. The tribute will feature performances by Rosanne Cash, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Keith Urban, Lilly Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, Robert Earl Keen and Pat McLaughlin.
This tribute is a perfect opportunity to reclaim an artist whose voice is so personal and compelling that, after decades of work, he stands as a true colossus in the shadow of the Americana genre — that hybrid style that mixes folk, rock and roll, soul, blues and country. Largely confined to specialist circles, Hiatt nonetheless has had a long-running career in which each record and every turn on the genre’s highway reveals the profile of a major musician.
Without any fuss, without trappings or contrived speeches, Hiatt is like one of those top-tier supporting actors who lift a film and make it memorable. His raspy, hoarse voice, full of soul, fills the songs. As if he were a Joe Cocker with less rawness but more grace, he brings white soul to folk-rock. You could say there is a midtempo ‘Hiatt’ style — a way of digging into chords, chewing words with pride and melancholy, leaving a trail of raw emotion. It’s something he has done since the early 1980s and has reached high points on outstanding albums such as Bring the Family, Slow Turning, Master of Disaster, The Tiki Bar Is Open — his most rock-infused record — Same Old Man and The Eclipse Sessions.
If you’ve never heard his music, please listen to the above albums to grasp the standing of a singer-songwriter who, like classical sculptures carved by the great masters, represents the best of classicism — in this case, the sonic classicism of Americana.
When I interviewed him in 2012, Hiatt said the wonderful thing about music was “not being successful.” It is an entire life philosophy for a man capable of shaping songs with the passion of his craft and the care of someone grateful for what he does. After suffering a serious fall and spending some time offstage, the musician has continued touring solo and, on November 9, 2026, he is scheduled to receive the well-deserved tribute he merits.
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