Lilly Hiatt wrote her first song when she was just nine years old. It was about a weeping willow tree. She still remembers the words and melody.
“I’ve always loved the way the willow trees looked and found comfort being around them,” she said over the telephone from her Tennessee home. “They grow near water, which is also a calming thing.” She’s recently moved from her East Nashville home to a more rural location as a place to chill. In the meantime, her music has become more rowdy. Her latest album, Forever, is her most rocking. When asked what she’s been listening to lately, she cited the With Teeth album by heavy metal act Nine Inch Nails and the lastest disc by the Irish punk band Fontaines DC.
Hiatt grew up on a farm outside Franklin, Tennessee, with her brother and sister. Her mother died when Lilly was just a year old. Her father is the celebrated singer-songwriter John Hiatt, who bought Lilly her first guitar when she was 12. She said her dad never pushed her into a career, but music was always present in the house. She fled from Franklin to attend college in Colorado, determined to see more of the world. Hiatt started the band Shake Go Home while a student, earning a degree in psychology in 2016.
Hiatt released her first album as a singular artist, Let Down, in 2012 followed by Royal Blue in 2015. Her original sound was a blend of folk, country, and indie rock that received mixed reviews. Her breakthrough came in 2017 with Trinity Lane, a critically acclaimed album that featured personal lyrics and a hard-driving beat. Hiatt credits Fairfield, Iowa, for its inception.
“My band and I were performing in Fairfield when I told them I wanted to make a new album [Trinity Lane] after playing a magical show. They all volunteered to be part of it,” Hiatt said. She has played in Iowa several times since, but always credits the Fairfield gig as the one that captured and expanded her musical vibe. “There was just something special about that place and time.” Hiatt and her band will perform at the Raccoon Motel in Davenport on August 27. She said she especially enjoys Midwest audiences because they make everyone feel right at home.
Hiatt was nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Honors & Awards. In 2020, she released Walking Proof (but the Covid pandemic prevented her from touring to support it), followed by 2021’s Lately. Hiatt’s sound has constantly evolved. “I’ve learned what I can leave out of a song to make it more powerful and not try to cram everything in,” she said. “I used to be a folk rocker, now I am just a rocker.” Her most recent album, Forever, just came out in January 2025 and has received overwhelmingly positive praise.
The material on Forever mixes nostalgia with forward thinking. There are songs about the old times, like the spirited “Evelyn’s House” about her past fun adventures making music, and fantastical ones such as the raucous “Hidden Day,” a sci-fi tale about a secret time and place between Thursday and Friday. Hiatt’s lyrics contain sly humor and serious concerns in somewhat equal measure. The title song concerns the importance of living in the moment and not worrying about the past or future. The album was produced by her husband, Coley Hinson, who played most of the instruments on the record.
“I am happier now than I was in the past,” Hiatt admitted, “and this shows in my music. I have calmed down.” She credits her marriage and the simple fact of aging for the change. She sees how the troubles and challenges of her youth have shaped her character, and she would not change the past even if she could, but she enjoys being cheerful and less turbulent in how she approaches life. “You could say I am grateful,” she said, “but not as a heavy thought. Life is lighter now.” She finds pleasure in just being home and hanging out, when in the past just being alone with her thoughts could drive her crazy.
“I always had obsessive-compulsive disorder and would be bothered by a train of distressing thoughts speeding through my head,” she said. She claims to have gotten over her OCD for the most part. She said her greatest fear was hitting a pedestrian while driving a car. She admitted to driving drunk in the past, but has been sober for the past 13 years and no longer worries about such behavior. “Maybe it’s just growing older,” she surmised. In any case, she said she’s clearly happier with her newfound peace.
“I went back and tried to relearn some of my old songs and realized how different the process of creating had become,” she said. She compared her new method of composing to writing a journal. “I mostly start by singing a melody that’s in my head. Then comes the chords. And then comes the words. It’s like keeping a diary where one does not know what one is going to say until one writes it.” She said her original song lyrics frequently start out as nonsense syllables and then she somehow realizes what she wants to say. The psychology major in her seeks an inner subconscious or even unconscious truth that mysteriously fits the tune.
“That’s the joy of writing,” Hiatt said. It’s a revelatory process.