John Hiatt is one of the most reliable songwriters and artists around. While he hit a purple patch in the late 80s that many consider his peak he has rarely made bad albums. 
In some respects to some fans like me his biggest problem is how reliably good he is. I go for periods where I do not buy his albums as they are just too reliable and then a review, a song or maybe just a cover will encourage me to dip my toe in again. 
And when I do it is always rewarding and usually has me checking out both the old CDs and records I have but also leads me to filling in the gaps. I had all of those old 80s releases on CD only except Bring The Family and so have been keeping my eye out for them on second hand vinyl for a while.
Over the last six months patience has paid off and I now have almost perfect copies of Slow Turning, Stolen Moments, Riding with the King and even an official bootleg called Riot with Hiatt.
Playing them reminds me of our time in Taupo where I had made up an C90 tape of best of Hiatt and it was the soundtrack to many of our family drives around the Central North Island. Good times.
Hiatt's last three releases have all got good good reviews. Plenty of calls of them being his best since....... but as I said earlier that is just bullshit. It's just time to Riot with Hiatt again and to remind ourselves how good he is.
His latest, Terms of Surrender, is another gem though. The first thing you notice is his voice is a little gruffer. He is 62 now so I suppose that is to be expected. What is interesting is how he is definitely exploring a bluesier side to his own style of country now. Check out the slow blues of Nothing I Love.
There are still the story songs but the humour is darker now. Nobody New His Name - has similarities with some of his earlier story songs but it is just that bit more resigned to life.
Other tracks that have made an impression is the bluegrass tinged Wind Don't Have to Hurry, the classic Hiatt sounding Baby's Gonna Kick with some great bluesy harp and the title track Terms of My Surrender
John - I glad the time has come around again for me to re-appreciate your work.
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