John Hiatt

John Hiatt is an American singer-songwriter who twists rock, soul, blues and R&B into rhythmic shapes that echo the deep and surprising way he sees things. "I'm a songwriter," he says, "but I'm also a guy who has to perform his own material. I write my own stuff, but it's ultimately all about music, melody, my technique. I'm always interested in sound. You've got to inhabit the right sonic space for the song to resonate with any meaning."

Hiatt lives on a farm in Franklin, Tennessee, where he's raising three kids, nine horses, five cats and three dogs. His styles and subjects vary, but his songs are grounded in his way of seeing both comedy and drama yoked to obsessively hummable tunes. Such compositions inspired cover versions from artists as diverse as Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Rick Nelson, Willie Nelson, The Neville Brothers and Rosanne Cash.

"I've spent about 20 years developing this funny little career that kind of works," Hiatt says. "I've always moved forward, albeit slowly. But with this period in my life, I've come to a point where I really believe in what I do. I just feel like I'm close now to more people coming to the party. I find that the older I get, the more passionate I become about a lot of things. I'm getting into things I've never done before, like driving race cars for fun, you know, crazy stuff." Hiatt smiles, "I'm in a very outward time here."