John Hiatt is bringing his acoustic guitar and a harmonica when he comes to Genesee Theatre in Waukegan on Friday, Blizzard Theatre in Elgin on Saturday and the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn on Sunday.
“That’s it,” said the Grammy-nominated guitarist, pianist, singer and songwriter.
“I might also stomp my foot,” he added with a laugh.
His speaking voice is as interesting as his singing voice — deep, warm, relaxed but with a likable edginess.
The Indiana native, who the Los Angeles Times has called “one of rock’s most astute singer-songwriters of the last 40 years,” has done solo gigs and played with his band on and off all those decades.
He likes doing both, he said, but this time he’s coming by himself to play some old songs as well as some on his latest album, “Terms of My Surrender.”
When the fall tour is over, he’ll be producing a new album in December, then head on the road in summer, he said.
Coming up with the lyrics really is almost magical for Hiatt.
“Having done this since I was 11, there’s a certain discipline,” he said.
But he quickly added, “I believe the inspiration comes from a muse. I’m always grateful for that.”
He’s had his share of life’s difficulties, offering plenty of fodder for lyrics like, “Been livin’ my life like a lonesome whistle blowin,'” from his latest album. He lost a brother at an early age, and though he’s svelte now, he said he was a fat kid at age 12 weighing about 260 pounds.
By then, though, he knew he was meant to write, sing and perform, said the 64-year-old.
“If you had to take one of those away, it would be hell,” he said.
Not all inspirations are somber. Take his song, “Perfectly Good Guitar,” for example.
“I was riding my Nordic Track and watching a video of Nirvana, and the bass player threw his bass in the air, and it hit him on the head,” he said. That was the inspiration for the words, “I don’t know who they think they are smashing a perfectly good guitar.”
Hiatt said he once smashed a guitar. But only once.
“I was 12. I threw a fit. I don’t know what I was angry about. But I lost it. It was my first guitar. It cost my mom $35,” he said.
“It broke the neck off the body. I jerry-rigged it with bolts and clamps, and I got it working again. I said I’d never do that again.”
What he has done over and over is write songs that helped the careers of performers including Bonnie Raitt and Three Dog Night, among a host of others.
“I kind of just write,” he said. “People pick up my songs. I’ve been asked to write songs for people. I really can’t do it.”
In 2008, Hiatt was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and also won the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
On his tour, fans will likely ask for their favorites, including “Have a Little Faith in Me,” and “Feels Like Rain.”
“I don’t mind a bit playing songs people want to hear,” he said. “I think I owe it to them. Plus, I like the possibility that the 200th time I sing it, I’ll hear different things about it.”
One of his new songs is called “Poor Imitation of God,” which he might perform during the tour. He’s used that word before on other titles such as “Face of God.”
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“God’s a good word,” he said.
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer.
An Acoustic Evening with John Hiatt
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan
Tickets: $48-$58
Information: 847-782-2366; www.geneseetheatre.com
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Blizzard Theatre at Elgin Community College, 1700 Spartan Drive
Tickets: $40-$53
Information: 847-622-0300; tickets.elgin.edu
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: McAninch Arts Center College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn
Tickets: $45-$60
Information: 630-942-4000; atthemac.org/