Live from austin, texas

(december 14, 1993)

2005, november 1, new west records

CD. NW6086

DVD. NW8016

Total running time:

Musicians

Guitar
Vocals

bass

vocals

michael urbano:

drums

Guitar
Vocals

new west records CD & DVD production

cameron strang

jay woods

gary briggs

chet himes @ asm studios

gary briggs @ asm studios

mary jurey

clare surgeson

original austin city limits production

jeff peterson

susan caldwell

david hough

sharon cullen

Vector management

ken levitan and emily deaderick for vector management, lori froeling, george fontaine and everyone at new west records. orville almon and jim zumwalt. dick peterson, ed baily, bill stotesbery, michael toland, leslie nichols, april burcham and everyone at KLRU and austin city limits.

Note

• All songs written by John Hiatt, except "Tennessee Plates" written by John Hiatt & Mike Porter.

• DVD 84 minutes, stunning 5.1 surround sound.

inlay

one could argue (at least i will) that john hiatt was at a peak in his career when he took the austin city limits stage on december 14, 1993. his musical journey began in the 70's with an angry rocker image wich gradually gave way to a mellower, more introspective country-folk-rock style. but labels don't do justice to his unusual imagery and evocative lyrics. he's never been afraid of tackling personal and social issues, and he does so with grace and style, but he's also perfectly capable of turning up the volume and giving younger rockers a run for their money. this show originally aired on the heels of his highly-acclaimed album 'perfectly good guitar', which the los angels times called "the most boldy rocking record in more then a decade". he is joined here by lead guitarist michael ward from school of fish and bassist davey faragher and drummer michael urbano, both from cracker. as always, hiatt demonstrates his knack for turning terse phrases and creating musical stories that make him a rare "songwriter's songwriter."

terry lickona

(producer austin city limits)

Allmusic.com

John Hiatt was touring behind his self-described "midlife crisis album," 1993's Perfectly Good Guitar — on which he teamed up with a raucous (and noticeably younger) rock and roll band for back up — when he appeared on PBS's venerable music series Austin City Limits to tape a set with his young guns in tow. Live In Austin, TX documents the full 74 minute show Hiatt and his band played that night, with Hiatt and School of Fish guitarist Michael Ward giving the tunes plenty of six-string firepower, and drummer Michael Urbano and bassist Davey Faragher holding down the backbeat with lots of muscle. While Hiatt the vocalist has always been something of an acquired taste, here he gives the songs as much blues-charged bellow as he can offer, and the truth of the matter is he sounds like he's having a great time. He also seems willing to stretch out the songs as far as they want to go, and one might argue that Your Dad Did", "Something Wild" and "Thing Called Love" didn't need to stretched out to six minutes and change each. But Hiatt the songwriter has always commanded attention as one of the best tunesmiths America has to offer, and here he delivers fourteen good-to-exceptional songs with plenty of heart, soul and sweat. If this disc is pretty atypical for Hiatt these days (not to mention that this tour was already documented on the album Hiatt Comes Alive At Budokan?), it's still good fun for fans and proves the man knows how to rock out when he's of a mind.