Review: Lovett and Hiatt a Perfect Pair at Mayo PAC

On their current acoustic tour together, Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt share the unenviable task of following each other as they trade songs for more than two hours.

Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
Credit: Mayo PAC

On their current acoustic tour together, Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt share the unenviable task of following each other as they trade songs for more than two hours. Yet each of these veteran performers has the musical chops and bottomless well of songs to pull it off with aplomb.

As the show opened January 29 at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, Lovett quipped that he and his touring mate had decided to add some professionalism to their performance in an attempt to make it “more like a show” than two guys sitting around playing songs. But the charm of the evening is the informality of these two old friends swapping songs, acoustic guitar licks and unscripted banter. Their repartee — with Hiatt acting the straight man to Lovett’s deadpan jesting— is a big part of the attraction. At times, the perfect pairing of Hiatt and Lovett is reminiscent of the great folk/comedy duo the Smothers Brothers.

As songwriters, Lovett and Hiatt are literate, witty and keenly observant spinners of tales. As performers, both have fronted genre-bending bands. Both share roots in country, rock, blues and folk—although Houston-bred Lovett leans more toward Texas swing and balladry and Indianapolis-born Hiatt is more of an edgy, confessional rocker. Lovett’s singing and playing is more precise, while Hiatt tends to slash and burn. The down-homey Lovett greets the crowd with a laconic “howdy”; the hipster Hiatt chimes in with “hello.” Somehow they meld seamlessly. Most of the songs are performed solo, but each man jumps in occasionally to provide harmonies or guitar accompaniment for the other.

Fortuitously, one of Lovett’s many memorable songs, “Walk Through the Bottomland,” is the tale of a “New Jersey lady” who loses her heart to a rodeo cowboy. It’s a wise choice to start the show, establishing an immediate connection with the audience. Lovett’s contributions to the evening included such chestnuts as “The Road to Ensenada,” “L.A. County,” a rollicking “She’s No Lady,” the earnest “If I Had a Boat” and a jubilant “Church,” which fittingly closed the program.

Hiatt punched up his personal jukebox for a satisfying set list highlighted by “Tennessee Plates,” “Drive South” and a chilling take on the stunning “Icy Blue Heart.” The wonderful “Have a Little Faith” is accented with Hiatt’s bluesy growls and “Thing Called Love” turns into a show-stopping duet with Lovett.

After encores of Hiatt’s “Memphis in the Meantime” and Lovett’s “My Baby Don’t Tolerate” one is left marveling at the depth of the performers’ combined catalogs – and thankful that they’ve managed to have long careers, despite remaining outside the music industry’s pigeonholes. Time has been kind to both of these fine performers—although Hiatt’s always-jagged voice has taken on some rougher edges. But like the familiar hisses and pops of an oft-played vinyl LP, these imperfections only enrich the performance.

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