If there was one good thing that came out of the dot.com collapse eight years ago, perhaps it was the fortuitous rise of Rogue Wave. After losing his job, Zach Schwartz decided to take stock of his situation with a quick trip from San Francisco to New York, intending to record a few songs with a friend. And the sessions proved to be unexpectedly fruitful.  

John Hiatt has been pursuing his Roots Rock direction for so long now it's sometimes difficult to remember that he started off in a Folk/Pop vein in the early '70s, which morphed into a tough/tender New Wave angle later in the decade and into the '80s. But like any decent gunslinger, Hiatt never forgets how many bullets he has left, and his chambers are packed full on 'The Open Road,' the 19th studio album of his long and storied career.