385 MTSU TO HOST ‘AN EVENING WITH JOHN HIATT’ APRIL 19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Beverly Keel, 615-898-5150

(MURFREESBORO)—Legendary singer/songwriter John Hiatt will discuss his songwriting and career and perform a few songs at Middle Tennessee State University on Wednesday, April 19, at 7 p.m.
The event, held in the State Farm Room of the university’s Business and Aerospace Building, is free and open to the public.
Hiatt, who is recognized as one of the nation's best songwriters, is the 2006 participant in MTSU’s Tom T. Hall Writers Series, which celebrates songwriters, authors, poets and screenwriters.
"We are fortunate to have a speaker with the national stature of John Hiatt," said Dr. Anantha Babbili, dean of the College of Mass Communication. "In addition to an impressive recording career that has spanned several decades, Mr. Hiatt has also enjoyed tremendous success as a songwriter. A quick look at the list of artists who have recorded his songs—from Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt to B.B. King and Iggy Pop—proves that Mr. Hiatt is considered a ‘songwriter's songwriter.’
"Students and faculty of mass communication at MTSU are extremely fortunate to have him on campus," Babbili added. "His insights and experience will be highly useful as our students enter the industry and society. It is certain to be a night that we will never forget."
Hiatt, a native of Indianapolis, is known for hits such as "Slow Turning," "Perfectly Good Guitar," "Riding with the King", "Cry Love" and "Have a Little Faith in Me.” He wrote his first hit, “Sure As I’m Sittin’ Here,” which was recorded by Three Dog Night, while still in his teens. He began his solo career in the early 1970s and continues to record and tour to this day.
There are more than 200 covers of Hiatt's compositions by more than 50 artists, including Bob Dylan “(The Usual”), Conway Twitty (“Heavy Tears”), Bonnie Raitt ("Thing Called Love"), Earl Thomas Conley (“Bring Back Your Love to Me”), The Jeff Healey Band (“Angel Eyes”), Roseanne Cash (“The Way We Make a Broken Heart”), Ronnie Milsap (“True Believer”), Rodney Crowell (“She Loves the Jerk”), Dr. Feelgood (“I’m a Real Man”), Suzy Bogguss (“Drive South”), Iggy Pop (“Something Wild”), Linda Ronstadt (“When We Ran”), and B.B. King and Eric Clapton (“Riding with the King”).
For more information about the Tom T. Hall Writers Series and Hiatt’s April 19 performance, please call 615-898-5150.


ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color JPEG of John Hiatt, contact Gina E. Fann in the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu. Thanks!