Hiatt sees "The Eclipse Sessions" coming this fall

The 11-track set is Hiatt's first new album in four years. It was produced by Kevin McKendree (Delbert McClinton) and features Hiatt's longtime drummer Kenneth Blevins and bassist Patrick O'Hearn, as well as Yates McKendree, Kevin's teenage son, who also engineered.

Hiatt has also announced his initial tour dates starting Oct. 20 in New Orleans at the House of Blues.

Hiatt connects the disc with 1987's mainstream breakthrough "Bring the Family," which sprung from an impulsive four-day session with an all-star combo led by Ry Cooder, and 2000's "Crossing Muddy Waters," an unplanned and largely unplugged effort that garnered a Grammy Award nomination and also set Hiatt on the rootsier path he's still pursuing today.

"The three albums are very connected in my mind," Hiatt said. "They all have a vibe to them that was unexpected. I didn't know where I was going when I started out on any of them. And each one wound up being a pleasant surprise."

Since wrapping up a year of touring in support of 2014's "Terms of My Surrender, Hiatt's 22nd studio effort, he found himself unsure of what would come next.

"I've been lost before," Hiatt said. "Although usually I have some sort of notion or clue where to go. But this time? I had no sense whatsoever."

"I wanted to spend more time with my family (which includes his singer-songwriter daughter Lilly). I was aging, with all that entails or doesn't entail. Stuff was just happening."

Hiatt wrote a new song, "Robber's Highway," that closes the disc. The song contains the lyrics "I had words, chords and strings / now I don't have any of these things."

Hiatt said, "I was just thinking in terms of somebody who's out there hammerin' away with his music, wondering what it's all coming to. And maybe the songs just aren't there anymore."

Hiatt and band were hard at work on Aug. 21, 2017 when a solar eclipse traveled the length of the continental U.S. "I think we recorded three songs that day and then we took a break to go outside and watch everything happen," Hiatt said.

Nashville, where Hiatt lives, was into near total darkness. "It seemed everything stopped for a minute or two," he said. "It was like a magical little bit of time, a harmonic convergence or something. Like everybody was on the same page."

The track listing is:
1. Cry To Me
2. All The Way To The River
3. Aces Up Your Sleeve
4. Poor Imitation Of God
5. Nothing In My Heart
6. Over The Hill
7. Outrunning My Soul
8. Hide Your Tears
9. The Odds Of Loving You
10. One Stiff Breeze
11. Robber's Highway

Tour dates are:
Aug. 18 - Raleigh, NC - Duke Energy Center **
Aug. 20-21 - Alexandria, VA - Birchmere Music Hal **
Aug. 22 - Frederick, MD - Weinberg Center for the Arts **
Aug. 24 - Albany, NY - The Egg Center for the Performing Arts **
Aug. 25 - Portland, Maine - State Theatre **
Aug. 26 - Westhampton Beach, NY - Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center **
Aug. 28 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater **
Aug. 30 - Highland Park, IL - Ravinia Festival **
Aug. 31st - Washburn, WI - Big Top Chautauqua ** September 1st - Minneapolis, MN - Pantages Theatre ** October 20 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues October 21-22 - Atlanta, GA - City Winery October 26 - Annapolis, MD - Rams Head On Stage October 27 - Wilmington, DE - The Queen
Oct. 29-31 - New York, NY - City Winery
Nov. 2 - Beverly, MA - The Cabot Theater

Nov. 3 - Plymouth, NH - Flying Monkey @ Lebanon Opera House
Nov. 4 - Homer, NY - Center for the Arts
Nov. 6 - Ottawa, ONT - Centerpointe Theatre
Nov. 7 - Toronto, ONT - Bluma Appel Theatre
Nov. 9 - Carmel, IN - Palladium - The Ctr for the Perf Arts
Nov. 13 - Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theatre
Nov. 14-15 - Nashville, TN - City Winery

John Hiatt a - The Goners featuring Sonny Landreth:

Preceding this Tour, John Hiatt a - The Goners featuring Sonny Landreth will perform live dates throughout August celebrating the 30th anniversary of his 1998 album, "Slow Turning."