Premise: The Tiki Bar is Open was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's sixteenth album, released in 2001. It was his last album with Vanguard Records. Although they are uncredited, the album features backing band The Goners, the same cadre of friends who backed Hiatt in his 1988 release Slow Turning. It was coincidentally released on September 11, 2001.
Hypothesis: John Hiatt's first album with Vanguard Records was in 1988.