John Hiatt – “Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns”
John Hiatt released his new CD Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns on New West Records this week. I’m not in the music business, so I had to wait for the actual release date and go buy it at the store. I still don’t like downloading and missing out on the feel, smell and pictures that come with the actual product.
I think it was Rosanne Cash who first introduced me (figuratively) to John Hiatt. I quickly became a fan of his writing and when he released “Bring the Family” and “Slow Turning” back in the 80’s I knew we had somebody special here.
This new CD is excellent. It features a mix of new Hiatt tunes: “Damn This Town” – about a guy who blames his troubles on his town, “I Love That Girl” – about his twenty-five year love affair with his wife, “Detroit Made” – he does like his car songs, “Down Around My Place” – a song inspired by the Nashville flood last year, and “Adios to California” – a possible Jack Kerouac inspired song about leaving. Also included are “Train To Birmingham” – a song he wrote when he was 19 or 20 and I wondered if he would ever record (thanks to Kevin Welch for bringing it to our attention years ago), and “When New York Had Her Heart Broke” – a song he wrote in the aftermath of 9/11 (he was in NYC that day) but didn’t feel like recording until now.
John plays acoustic and electric guitar and is joined by Doug Lancio, Kenneth Blevins and Patrick O’Hearn, Russ Paul, Arlan Scherbaum and Reese Wynans. The CD was produced by Kevin Shirley.
I like this CD a lot and I expect other John Hiatt fans will as well.