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The title of John Hiatt’s most recent album is a bit misleading.

Sure, it sounds like him ― gruff voice, witty wordplay, guitar work that’s simple and savory at the same time.

But with a career that’s bounced between genres with the ease of a Superball … a personal life that’s endured more than one man’s fair share of heartache and hardship … and a talent that’s almost criminally underappreciated by the mainstream ... well, John Hiatt is anything but the “Same Old Man.”

For one thing, this new album finds him straddling his 50s, living on a farm outside of Nashville with his second wife, taking stock of where he’s been and consistently amazed by the blessings with which he’s been bestowed.

When it comes down to it, Hiatt told The Daily Times during a recent interview, his endurance and longevity, as well as the serenity he finds himself enjoying as he approaches his 56th birthday, all boils down to the one predominant element that’s always been a part of much of his music ― love.

“We just celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary, and we both feel like we’re somewhere we’ve never been before,” Hiatt said of his relationship. “This love we share, we never could have dreamed we would be here. I mean, we loved each other from the start, but it just doesn’t compare to where we are now.

“You don’t know where you’re headed when you begin a relationship, and we just couldn’t have dreamed we’d be where we’re at in terms of intensity and the level of trust. That’s been very much on my mind lately, and the whole reason I was able to make this record.

“To be able to take the risk of producing it on my own, it was all based on the fact that I relied on what we have together and where we’re at,” he added. “She had my back, so to speak, and vice-versa.”

If ever an artist deserves a little peace and serenity, it’s Hiatt. Not that he broods or mopes or feels sorry for himself; on the contrary, given what he’s faced over the years, he’s a remarkably gentle, warm guy who’s quick to laugh and not at all evasive about his past.

Growing up in Indiana, he turned to writing as an outlet for his grief ― within a two-year period, his father died and his older brother committed suicide. He made his way to Nashville, landing a job at one of the city’s songwriting mills, and eventually started recording his own songs.

Despite the comparisons by critics to such luminaries as Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen, Hiatt’s music never really caught on with mainstream fans. He bounced from Epic to MCA to Geffen, and his sound morphed as well ― always based in the singer-songwriter tradition, he tempered his music with everything from Southern rock overtones to punk influences.

Despite a flush of creativity during the 1970s and ’80s, it was also a time of darkness for him ― he spiraled downhill into addiction and alcoholism, and in 1985, his estranged wife committed suicide, leaving him as the single father of a 1-year-old daughter. He kicked his chemical habits, however, and started turning his life around ― both musically and personally ― in the late ’80s.

In 1987, he landed his first big hit with the album, “Bring the Family.” The song “Have a Little Faith In Me” would become a Hiatt classic, as well as a successful song for other artists such as Joe Cocker, Jewel, Mandy Moore and Bon Jovi. Bonnie Raitt took the song “Thing Called Love” off that album and rode it to success herself, all the way to No. 11 on her 1989 album, “Nick of Time.”

Personally, he met his third wife, Nancy ― another recovering alcoholic who became his rock. Together, they raised their children on a farm outside of Music City, and Hiatt set about making albums that put him on a par with Springsteen, Dylan, John Prine and Steve Earle in terms of songwriting respect.

“We’ve both been recovering throughout our entire marriage, but in the beginning, neither one of us had any idea how to do a relationship,” Hiatt said. “We came into it with all of the typical hooray of crazy stuff. As all people do, I think, you have these illusions of what you think you need, you want, you deserve … what you think love is.

“One by one, they have to be smashed, because they’re just that ― illusions. They have nothing to do with what love really is. Not that I know, even after 22 years of marriage, but it keeps getting revealed to us every day. I like the transforming qualities of love and life and how one little experience can change you forever.

“What we had was willingness and the commitment to each other,” he added. “It’s a frickin’ roller coaster, man, but in our worst times, we knew that nobody was going to go anywhere.”

And neither, it seems, is Hiatt. More records would follow ― the Grammy-nominated “Walk On” in 1995; the bluegrass-inflected “Crossing Muddy Waters” in 2000, also nominated for a Grammy; “Beneath This Gruff Exterior,” released in 2003; “Master of Disaster,” put out in ’05 and featuring contributions by members of the North Mississippi Allstars; and “Same Old Man,” put out earlier this year and recorded by Hiatt from the comforts of home.

“I set up kind of a little studio on the farm, and I got so interested in learning how to run all this stuff and toying with it over the years that I sort of backed into producing myself,” he said. “I’ve always made my own demos and stuff anyway, and I had a plan for a real simple type of recording ― not a bunch of overdubs or ideas beyond present the song. I wanted to keep it simple and spare, and I just thought, I’m crazy enough and old enough, so what the hell ― let’s try it.”

At Hiatt’s age, telling the story is paramount. He doesn’t have a lot of use for frivolous details; he’s long since turned his back on the Nashville hit-making machine. He’s respected by his peers, adored by a diehard following of fans and loved by his wife.

Most of the time, he said, that’s all a man needs. And if he has the opportunity to share it with the world through music … well, what more could a guy ask for?

“I just wanna keep writing songs,” he said. “I love to write songs, and hopefully I’ll try to get better at it; that’s really sort of my reason to keep doing it, because I love the music. Writing the songs, making the records, going out and playing ― I love all of them, and I’d hate to take any one of them away.

“I wouldn’t want to quit doing any one of those. That’s the package for me, and it’s about communicating, I guess. Doing all of that is my shot at communicating.”