Singer, songwriter John Hiatt headed to Pascagoula

PASCAGOULA — Legendary singer/songwriter John Hiatt, who the Los Angeles Times once called “…one of rock’s most astute singer-songwriters of the last 40 years,” is coming to Pascagoula.

Hiatt, who has been nominated for nine Grammys and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry, will headline “Jazz Fest Unplugged” at The Grand Magnolia Ballroom for a 7 p.m. show on June 17.

“Jazz Fest Unplugged” is the signature live music series of Grand Magnolia Music. Tickets for Hiatt’s first-ever appearance in Pascagoula go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday at http://www.grandmagmusic.com.

Hiatt’s special guest will be Pascagoula’s own Libby Rae Watson.

The stop in South Mississippi will be the first for Hiatt in over 20 years. It is part of a 33-city acoustic tour that begins in early May and winds its way throughout the Midwest, up and down the East Coast and ends with a drive through the deep South.

Hiatt delivers songs filled with tales of redemption, relationships and surrendering on his own terms.

His lyrics and melodies have graced more than 20 studio albums, and the long list of artists who recorded and/or performed his songs include Bonnie Raitt (“Thing Called Love”), Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen (“Across the Borderline,” written with Ry Cooder and Jim Dickinson), Carl Perkins (“Memphis in the Meantime”) and Eric Clapton and B.B. King (“Ridin’ with the King”) as well as Delbert McClinton (“Have a Little Faith in Me”), Aaron Neville (“Feels Like Rain”), Suzy Boguss (“Drive South”), Jeff Healy (“Angel Eyes”) and Emmylou Harris’ (“Icy Blue Heart”).

There are many more, enough to reveal that John Hiatt is a major contributor to the canon of American songs.

His work has earned him a place in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, a BMI Troubadour award, and a lifetime achievement in songwriting designation from the Americana Music Association.