Hiatt and trio keeping family at the heart of rock

John Hiatt’s 1987 album, “Bring the Family,” remains a highlight of his career with its wry, confessional take on finding oneself in domestic circumstances and having to learn to act like an adult.

At the House of Blues on Saturday, Hiatt brought someone else’s family -- and it provided another highlight. His current tour’s backing trio is the North Mississippi Allstars, which features guitarist Luther Dickinson and drummer Cody Dickinson, sons of Hiatt’s longtime friend and sometimes collaborator Jim Dickinson.

Hiatt even started the show with the sly, self-analytical “Bring the Family” selection “Your Dad Did.” That the kids he was raising when he wrote the song are now grown-ups gives the song a few twists.

On some songs from the new “Master of Disaster” album (produced by the eldest Dickinson and featuring the Allstars), Hiatt seemed to wonder why he still has to act like an adult.

The title song playfully continued the saga of “Your Dad Did,” while the new “When My Love Crosses Over” (unwavering commitment as a frontier journey) neatly bookended the gospel-like plea of “Have a Little Faith in Me,” still the emotional center of his canon 18 years down the road. If rock tends to be about perpetual adolescence, Hiatt stands as its balladeer of perpetual midlife crisis.

The Allstars, rounded out by bassist Chris Chew, brought definition to the new songs and renewal to the old ones, including the Stones-y “Paper Thin,” the swampy “Riding With the King” and the buoyant closer, “Slow Turning.” Luther Dickinson’s fluid flights of guitar fancy were particularly scintillating.

The threesome’s semi-acoustic opening set neatly encapsulated Southern blues and rock, hinting at the scope of the group’s own shows.