SOPAC to Welcome John Hiatt, 5/1

Legendary singer-songwriter John Hiatt has been touring the country in support of his new album, Terms of My Surrender, and will play the South Orange Performing Arts Center May 1 at 7:30 p.m. in an acoustic concert that showcases his unique talents. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville, but it quickly became apparent that not only was able to write great hits for others, he could perform them as well. 1987's "Have A Little Faith In Me" and "Thing Called Love" solidified Hiatt's career both as a songwriter in great demand, and a recording artist.

John Hiatt's songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, and Linda Ronstadt. He became a Grammy Award-nominee for his album, Crossing Muddy Water. While B.B. King and Eric Clapton shared a Grammy Award for their album Riding With The King, the title track was a John Hiatt composition. In 2007, John Hiatt was honored with his own star on Nashville's Walk of Fame and his legacy was further cemented with a pair of awards in the fall of 2008: the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting and his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

More than 40 years into his recording career, John Hiatt released his 22nd studio album, Terms of My Surrender. "It's my Appomattox," he says, wryly. "Really, I don't know where it came from, that idea of trying to arrange the terms of my surrender. I don't get to do that. It's a labor in vain in that respect, if you think you can negotiate that with anyone, or anything. In reference to the title song, it's in terms of love. You've got to give it up. The song says, 'I can't negotiate the terms.'"

John Hiatt will take the SOPAC stage May 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $55-$70 and can be purchased online at SOPACnow.org, or by calling the box office at (973) 313-2787.

Need more New Jersey Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...