{"id":21070,"date":"2023-08-31T08:45:05","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T15:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=21070"},"modified":"2023-08-31T08:45:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T15:45:05","slug":"john-oates-web-exclusive-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2023\/08\/john-oates-web-exclusive-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"JOHN OATES &#8211; Web-Exclusive Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>JOHN OATES \u2013 with Web-Exclusive Interview<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Musician:\u00a0 JOHN OATES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Video:\u00a0 \u201cPushin\u2019 a Rock\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/M57VuykRq8E?si=KeK7Apbz8v8vsxP1\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1><strong>THE GOOD ROAD OF SONGS, STORIES AND SMILES<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h1><strong>WITH MUSTACHIOED MYSTERY MAN JOHN OATES<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>John\u00a0Oates\u2019 mustachioed face and black curly ringlets of hair have graced bounteous album sleeves and music videos.\u00a0The guitarist, singer and songwriter\u2019s\u00a0soft-spoken voice, humble attitude and laid-back demeanor permeated his dialogue\u00a0with\u00a0<em>M\u00a0Music &amp;\u00a0Musicians<\/em>\u00a0magazine during a recent interview. Reflecting on\u00a0the creative process, humble beginnings\u00a0in Philadelphia,\u00a050-year working relationship with creative partner Daryl Hall, recording \u201cWe Are the World,\u201d performing\u00a0at Live Aid, and the importance of giving back;\u00a0Oates connected the dots of his personal and musical journey to reveal a\u00a0portrait of both the man and the artist who is one half of\u00a0Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates,\u00a0the most successful duo in music history.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21071\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-01-1413.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21071\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21071\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-01-1413.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-01-1413.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-01-1413-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-21071\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Oates &#8211; Photo credit Jeff Fasano<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A baby boomer, John was born into the post-World War 2 Golden Age of Capitalism. Black and white images flickering on television sets reflected an era of American economic prosperity and values of the nuclear family with television sitcoms like\u00a0<em>The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,\u00a0<\/em>in which\u00a0the patriarchs always had the solution to any problem, matriarchs wore dresses and pearls to clean the house, and children were always immaculately groomed and respectful of authority.\u00a0Oates began flirting with music as a juvenile\u00a0in this sterile, highly-sanitized, two-dimensional world.\u00a0He\u00a0began singing\u00a0literally as soon as he could talk, and still has a\u00a0recording of a children\u2019s song he sang at four years old. He began to play the guitar and take vocal\u00a0lessons\u00a0at the age of six, while Bill Haley &amp; His Comets\u2019 \u201cRock Around the Clock\u201d ushered in a new genre of music for America\u2019s youth. Add to this blossoming courtship, encouraging and supportive parents, and the result yielded is\u00a0John\u00a0Oates\u00a0has\u00a0never had any other job in his life except music.\u00a0He accentuates the point simplistically, \u201cThe closest thing I\u2019ve had to a regular job is teaching guitar lessons. It\u2019s been a way of life for me. It\u2019s not anything I\u2019ve ever had to make a decision about. I\u2019ve just done it\u2014and people have always responded positively, so I never stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Philly<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Summer Of \u201967, Record Hops &amp; Gang Fights Forge a Creative Alliance<br \/>\n<\/strong>Blind faith and confidence in 1950s button-down conservative politics and societal norms\u00a0dissipated by the 1960s.\u00a0JFK\u2019s Presidential assassination, the Beatles\u2019 invasion, a burgeoning civil rights movement and an unpopular war in Vietnam reshaped the country\u2019s political, cultural and musical landscape. These\u00a0milestones for the counter culture occurred during\u00a0John Oates\u2019 adolescence.<\/p>\n<p>Spending his teenage years in Philadelphia and on the campus of Temple University during the late 1960s, pursuing a journalism degree, would ultimately lead Oates to cross paths with his creative soulmate Daryl Hall. The subsequent relationship would produce 21 pop-rock studio albums with over 80 million copies sold by Hall &amp; Oates. Great moments in history and fortuitous events are often disguised as innocuous and fleeting, and can occur in the most unlikely places imaginable. Philly had a population of over four million people when Oates connected with Daryl Hall.<\/p>\n<p>Recounting this fateful meeting, Oates contextualizes how the creative alliance was forged by both the music scene and the gritty streets of Philly: \u201cWe were both teenagers in the Philadelphia area, we were both going to Temple University, but we didn\u2019t meet at the school. Daryl had a group called the Temptones and they had a single out. I had a group called the Masters, and we had a single out. Both those records were being played on Philadelphia radio, especially the R&amp;B stations. WHAT and WDAS in Philadelphia were the two premier R&amp;B stations. So, I was aware of Daryl\u2019s group and he was aware of my group. Our records were being played at the same time; they were released at the same time. We didn\u2019t know each other. We were independently invited to perform for a DJ for a teenage dance, which was called a record hop in those days, and it was in a bad neighborhood in West Philly. While we were waiting to go on, a gang fight broke out, and we left the building. When we went down to the street, and were standing on the sidewalk, we kind of introduced ourselves, and that was how we met. From that point on, my group broke up and Daryl\u2019s group broke up. We became friends, we hung out together, but we didn\u2019t really work together. We just kind of hung out in downtown Philadelphia, in Center City, and that was the summer of \u201967. We were friends for a few years and then after I graduated from college and went to Europe for a few months, I came back from Europe and Daryl wasn\u2019t really happy with what he was doing independently, and I wasn\u2019t doing much either. So the two of us got together and we began to write songs, and that\u2019s how it started.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Early 1970s Debut\u00a0<em>Whole Oats<\/em>\u00a0and<em>\u00a0<\/em>Sophomore\u00a0Effort\u00a0<em>Abandoned Luncheonette<\/em>\u00a0Reflect Roots<br \/>\n<\/strong>Youthful idealism and optimism of the 60s climaxed at Woodstock in 1969, but gasped its last breath as the decade\u00a0came to a close.\u00a0Charles Manson\u2019s \u201cHelter Skelter\u201d murders, and an ill-fated free concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Raceway witnessed\u00a0the wilting of flower power, replacing the bloom of a free-love hippie vibe with bloodshed, casting a dark aura on the future.\u00a0Hall &amp; Oates would release their debut\u00a0<em>Whole Oats<\/em> and sophomore\u00a0effort\u00a0<em>Abandoned Luncheonette\u00a0<\/em>for\u00a0Atlantic Records\u00a0in the early 1970s. The Me Decade favored egocentrism over altruism.\u00a0Oates\u00a0sets the scene for\u00a0\u201cHad I Known You Better Then,\u201d the last\u00a0song he\u00a0wrote in Philly, before going to Europe, which would\u00a0appear on\u00a0<em>Abandoned Luncheonette.<\/em>\u00a0Standing on Broad Street outside the Shubert Theatre, he caught the vision of a girl looking through a dirty, grimy bus window.\u00a0The look only lasted a few seconds,\u00a0and he wondered what would have happened had they gotten married and had kids.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhiladelphia\u201d Jerry Ricks,\u00a0Oates\u2019\u00a0guitar mentor and good friend,\u00a0was part of the recording sessions for\u00a01972\u2019s\u00a0<em>Whole Oats<\/em>\u00a0and 1973\u2019s\u00a0<em>Abandoned Luncheonette<\/em>. Oates remembers Ricks as someone who gave him\u00a0insight into the authentic way that a lot of these roots\u2019 performers played: \u201cJerry really spent personal time with a lot of these amazing originators\u2014people like Mississippi\u00a0John\u00a0Hurt,\u00a0Doc Watson, Sonny Terry &amp; Brownie McGhee,\u00a0and Robert Pete Williams. They used to sleep at his house and he got to see them play. He watched their fingers, he watched their hands, so when I was learning from\u00a0Jerry, I was learning from the source. I wasn\u2019t learning from a record. I was learning from those who actually did it. That\u2019s why my playing is very authentic and to the original because I was basically there. Besides teaching me guitar, Jerry also taught me a musical philosophy of how to listen, how to be an accompanist\u2014the subtleties, the real finer points of being a well-rounded musician, having dynamics, how to phrase all these things that go way beyond just learning your chords and learning how to plunk on the guitar. These are the things that make the difference between a really accomplished musician and someone who is just kind of playing the instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By the mid-70s,\u00a0Nixon\u2019s\u00a0Watergate political scandal irrevocably\u00a0snuffed out the last vestige of American innocence, and\u00a0snaked its way into the lyrical content of Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s \u201cSweet Home Alabama.\u201d\u00a0Social acceptance of recreational drug use entered mainstream movies like\u00a0<em>Annie Hall<\/em>.\u00a0Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates moved from Atlantic to RCA Records, and their unique\u00a0brand of adult relationship-based lyrics wrapped up in pop\u00a0rock hooks, delivered with blue-eyed soul vocals, helped FM radio thrive. \u201cSara Smile,\u201d \u201cRich Girl,\u201d and \u201cShe\u2019s Gone\u201d crackled on transistor radios, and were front and center on the revolving stage of countless turntables.\u00a0Oates\u00a0wrote \u201cShe\u2019s Gone,\u201d which appeared on <em>Abandoned Luncheonette<\/em>,\u00a0and he has played it at every show since then. And he\u2019s not going to interfere with the formula for success.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21072\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-02-1674bw.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21072\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21072\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-02-1674bw.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-02-1674bw.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-02-1674bw-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-21072\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit Jeff Fasano<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Mammoth Coifs, Mega Hits of the 80s, and What \u201cManeater\u201d is Really About<br \/>\n<\/strong>America experienced another cultural revolution in the 1980s. Cocaine, fast money\u00a0and coifs of mammoth proportions painted a pastel world\u00a0of greed. Television merged with popular music and each became a vehicle to sell the other in the form of music videos. MTV was the network that picked up the torch and illuminated a brand-new way to sell music. Videos became marketing tools for artists, record labels and the network\u00a0to expand their audiences with the help of exciting visual aids to package singles.\u00a0NBC\u2019s television series\u00a0<em>Miami Vice<\/em>\u00a0blurred the edges between reality and fiction, creating fashion-plate\u00a0rock \u2019n\u2019 roll cops behind the wheel of a\u00a0Ferrari, as music hits of the era provided the soundtrack. Rock stars began to experiment more with the visual medium and acting, stretching their creative wings with cameo appearances on the hit show.<\/p>\n<p>Hall &amp; Oates continued to build on the foundation of their earlier success, with mega-hits in the 80s:\u00a0\u201cYou Make My Dreams,\u201d \u201cManeater,\u201d and \u201cOut of Touch\u201d enjoyed heavy rotation both on radio and MTV.\u00a0Choosing not to take themselves too seriously, the duo set themselves apart by delivering convivial music videos in a marketplace awash in a sea of mini motion pictures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou Make My Dreams\u201d from 1980\u2019s\u00a0<em>Voices,<\/em> the duo\u2019s ninth studio album, is described by John Oates\u00a0as the feel-good song of the century.\u00a0According to\u00a0Oates, songs are often misunderstood, and such is the case with one of\u00a0Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates\u2019 biggest hits.\u00a0He describes a place in\u00a0Greenwich Village where he\u00a0used to hang out, and a\u00a0trip to Jamaica, that sparked his interest in reggae music. A\u00a0drop-dead gorgeous girl walked into the club, and the first words out of her mouth were a dirty joke, placing her physical beauty in juxtaposition with her filthy vocabulary, which led to Oates\u00a0thinking about the city of New York and its reputation of eating and chewing people up, before spitting them out, and that concept became the song \u201cManeater,\u201d on 1982\u2019s\u00a0<em>H2O,\u00a0<\/em>the duo\u2019s eleventh studio album. In essence, the track is really about that aspect of New York, think a New York cab. When analog technology had reached its zenith, and digital recording was just starting,\u00a0Oates\u00a0bought a 4-track recorder. Although he wasn\u2019t a synthesizer player, he did want to try it.\u00a0In his Greenwich Village apartment, Oates fooled around with the synthesizer and discovered an interesting sound. He confesses to being stoned at the time.\u00a0Oates\u00a0brought it into the recording studio the next day,\u00a0which is how \u201cOut of Touch\u201d the lead single\u00a0from their twelfth studio album 1984\u2019s\u00a0<em>Big Bam Boom<\/em> came to life.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWe Are the World\u201d\u2014Ray Charles Right In Front Of Me and Bob Dylan Right Behind Me<br \/>\n<\/strong>Giving back has always been important to\u00a0John\u00a0Oates. It is one of his many\u00a0character traits which has remained unchanged despite the record sales, music videos in heavy rotation on MTV and subsequent financial rewards. Over\u00a0the years, personally as well as with Hall\u00a0&amp;\u00a0Oates,\u00a0he\u00a0has participated in numerous charity type events whether it\u2019s Toys for Tots or raising money for local and international causes.\u00a0In 1985, John Oates was able to satisfy that craving to contribute and give back when Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates\u00a0were part of\u00a0USA for Africa\u00a0and appeared on the all-star recording of \u201cWe Are the World.\u201d The music artists and celebrity coalition humanitarian effort for famine relief remains to this day\u2014the snapshot of selflessness in a decade defined by greed.<\/p>\n<p>With the accuracy of an auteur,\u00a0Oates\u00a0frames the recording session,\u00a0\u201cIt was an amazing experience to be part of \u2018We Are the World.\u2019 It was interesting because\u00a0I think it would be very difficult to pull off something like that in today\u2019s modern world. Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones and\u00a0Lionel Richie were very smart because they set up the recording session right after\u00a0<em>The American Music Awards<\/em>. Back in those days, there weren\u2019t a hundred different types of award shows. There were basically two: The <em>Grammys <\/em>and <em>The\u00a0American Music Awards<\/em>. Everybody who\u00a0was anyone\u00a0in pop music was going to be in L.A. at\u00a0<em>The American Music Awards<\/em>. So they set up the session to happen immediately after the AMAs. Once the awards ceremony was over, everyone got into cars and went over to the recording studio. There were no managers, agents or handlers allowed in the room, which was great. It allowed everyone to be themselves, and people were just very casual and talking to each other.\u00a0The thing that people don\u2019t realize is that artists are kind of\u00a0like the sun in their own\u00a0little personal solar systems. They\u2019re the center\u2014they\u2019ve got agents, managers, band members, hangers-on, roadies and technical people all surrounding them. It\u2019s very difficult for artists to\u00a0go outside of their solar system. So in a situation like this, all of a sudden there were no buffers or filters and everyone was just left to their own devices\u2014and everyone just talked.\u00a0Some people didn\u2019t know each other. Some people knew each other well\u2014and everything in between. If you look at the picture from the group shot, I was positioned with Ray Charles right in front of me and Bob Dylan right behind me. I thought that\u2019s pretty cool\u2014two people who I have the ultimate respect for. To be in that position, to be there and rub shoulders with some of the greats\u2014it was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Ultimate Gig, Playing Live Aid with the Temptations and Mick Jagger<br \/>\n<\/strong>The potential of\u00a0\u201cWe Are the World\u201d was further realized in July of 1985, with two simultaneous concerts: one at London\u2019s Wembley Stadium and the other at JFK Stadium in Philly. Artists on the star-studded bill included Queen, David Bowie, U2, a reunited Led Zeppelin, and\u00a0Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates. The duo played\u00a0with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations,\u00a0and\u00a0Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates\u00a0became\u00a0the house band for the ultimate gig. Reminiscing about that day when \u201cthe City of Brotherly Love\u201d sweltered\u00a0in the hot summer sun and the world came together for music and a good cause,\u00a0Oates\u00a0offers his personal perspective on the enormity of the event and performing with his peers: \u201cWell, I was aware that show probably at that time was the biggest rock or music show in history because it was simulcast around the world on television. Now in our modern era that seems like nothing because of the internet, but back in those days that was a very significant thing. I was aware of that, but I wasn\u2019t nervous because I\u2019d been onstage my whole life. In the 80s, we were at the top of our game, at that period in time. We were at the top of the pop charts, we were one of the biggest bands in the world, so it didn\u2019t surprise me. And the fact it was in Philadelphia, our home town, it made perfect sense. So it wasn\u2019t really a shock to me. I was really excited and we were looking forward to it. We also had Mick Jagger and Tina Turner, who we were going to back up. The Rolling Stones were on a hiatus at that time, and Mick asked us to back him up for that show. It was great to be able to rehearse with him and hang out with him. Then he brought Tina Turner out, and that was really exciting at the end. I felt like at that moment in time, we were meant to be there and it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21076\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-06-In-concert-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21076\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21076\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-06-In-concert-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-06-In-concert-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-06-In-concert-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-21076\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Oates &#8211; Colonial Theatre &#8211; Photo credit Rodeo Marie Hanson<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>A Solo Career and the Good Road to\u00a0<em>Arkansas<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong>The excess and party ethos of the 80s could not be sustained. With the dawn of the 90s, the reset button of fickle youth culture had once again been pressed. Seattle\u2019s grunge music assault and Nirvana killed hair metal while injecting new life in rock music, but the redemption the genre offered was fleeting.\u00a0Pop and rock music had to borrow a page from Charles Darwin, and evolve to survive. The Notorious B.I.G., Shania Twain and Backstreet Boys dominated the charts in the 1990s with rap, hip hop, country crossover and boy band ear candy.\u00a0By the end of the decade, new technology, the internet and file sharing application Napster\u00a0presented legal questions and challenges for the music industry. Artists swam in these\u00a0murky and difficult-to-navigate waters.<\/p>\n<p>In 1999,\u00a0John\u00a0Oates\u00a0embarked on a solo career, and to date has released seven studio albums. Introspectively,\u00a0John\u00a0examines\u00a0the motivation for doing solo material and the\u00a0significance of solo releases like<em>\u00a0Arkansas\u00a0<\/em>with the\u00a0Good Road Band,<em>\u00a0<\/em>as a vehicle that provides an additional creative outlet for music:\u00a0\u201cOne of the things that I think has kept Daryl and me together over the years is that we looked at ourselves as individuals. We\u2019ve given each other the room to expand and experiment and not be tied to the thing that we do together. We\u2019re very proud of the thing that we do together and the legacy of music that we\u2019ve made together, but we also realize that it\u2019s important to be our own individuals. Daryl has done numerous solo albums and projects over the years. So we have both given each other the freedom to do that sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Journals Become Literary Adventures<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Change of Season<\/em>,\u00a0John\u00a0Oates\u2019 autobiography\u00a0published by St. Martin\u2019s Press in 2017, went on to become a best seller for Amazon. In some ways, the tome is the natural progression of the journalism degree he earned from Temple University years earlier, and an accomplishment beyond the borders of Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates\u2019 music.\u00a0Shedding light on the genesis of the book,\u00a0he says:\u00a0\u201cI always knew that at some point I wanted to write something beyond lyrics and music.\u00a0I wanted to get into some prose. I didn\u2019t know what that would be. I\u00a0was doing a series of interviews with a guy named\u00a0Chris Epting, who is a writer and\u00a0actually writes a lot of history books. In the course of the interviews,\u00a0we got into some pretty deep stuff,\u00a0and at one point he said, \u2018Man, you had such an amazing life and so many stories, you should write a book one day\u2014and if you ever want to do it, I\u2019d like to\u00a0help you.\u2019 I just had a gut feeling that he was the right person to collaborate with, and we began a series of interviews. I\u2019ve been keeping a journal from the time I graduated college in June 1970\u2014until the end of the decade. I have 15 volumes, and I told him that I had all this\u00a0and he said, \u2018That\u2019s gold\u2014you got to let me\u00a0see some of this\u00a0stuff.\u2019 So I sent him copies of all the journals. He dug through them and began to help me pull it together. He functioned as\u00a0an editor. He\u2019s an amazing researcher. He did research on things that I never would have remembered, and brought up some moments that quite frankly would have been lost to me had I not dug back into it. I began to write. It took almost two years. It was really an interesting process for me to do this, since I had never written a book before. And I really enjoyed it. I put a lot of work into it. The biggest challenge for me to write this book was how do I tell my own personal story when my own personal story is so intrinsically connected to the Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates\u00a0experience. So, that\u2019s what I needed to balance\u2014and I hope I found a good balance there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Humanitarian Efforts in the 21st Century and \u201cOates Song Fest 7908\u201d<br \/>\n<\/strong>Along with his wife Aimee,\u00a0John\u2019s\u00a0 humanitarian efforts continue into the 21st century, in the form of helping\u00a0the organization\u00a0Feeding America realize\u00a0its vision to end hunger in America.\u00a0\u201cOates Song Fest 7908\u201d in 2021,\u00a0a free streaming concert he and\u00a0Aimee\u00a0put together\u00a0with Drive Entertainment Group and Nugs TV,\u00a0featured an all-star lineup with names like\u00a0Dave Grohl, Michael McDonald and Sammy Hagar. All donations and proceeds went to FeedingAmerica.org. Contemplating the social issue of food insecurity and his efforts to address it,\u00a0Oates\u00a0points out, \u201cDuring the\u00a0COVID period, my wife and I were at home watching the news, as we all did, trying to process what was happening to the world, and we began to become very aware that there was food insecurity in America. I took it personally because I felt\u00a0that in a country\u00a0as blessed and wealthy as ours, there really shouldn\u2019t be American families going without food. If I can walk into a local supermarket and see the shelves stocked with food, it just doesn\u2019t seem right that there are families starving\u2014that can\u2019t feed their kids. That really upset me and my wife, and I talked about it and we said \u2018let\u2019s see if we can do something.\u2019 We were doing a lot of Zoom interviews, and I was doing a lot of collaborations on Zoom, and we said \u2018let\u2019s see if we can put a streaming show together and ask our friends and people we respect musically if they would contribute. Everyone was amazing. They all sent these amazing videos and we were just humbled by how much they responded. We ended up providing 450,000 meals, which we were really proud that was something we just did, and worked really hard at it, and something we felt was important for us to try to contribute to.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21077\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-07-Guthrie-Trapp-and-John-Oates-in-An-Evening-Of-Songs-Stories-at-Colonial-Theatre-in-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21077\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21077\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-07-Guthrie-Trapp-and-John-Oates-in-An-Evening-Of-Songs-Stories-at-Colonial-Theatre-in-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-07-Guthrie-Trapp-and-John-Oates-in-An-Evening-Of-Songs-Stories-at-Colonial-Theatre-in-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-07-Guthrie-Trapp-and-John-Oates-in-An-Evening-Of-Songs-Stories-at-Colonial-Theatre-in-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-21077\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guthrie Trapp &amp; John Oates &#8211; Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville, PA &#8211; Photo credit Rodeo Marie Hanson<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong><em>An Evening of Songs &amp; Stories Tour With Guitarist Guthrie Trapp<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong>An\u00a0Evening\u00a0of Songs &amp; Stories Tour<em>\u00a0<\/em>with guitarist\u00a0Guthrie Trapp\u00a0revealed another wedge of the\u00a0John\u00a0Oates\u00a0collage to fans in\u00a02022. It celebrates\u00a0the American popular song and early\u00a0artists\u00a0like King of the Delta Blues\u00a0Robert\u00a0Johnson, Jimmie Rodgers, and\u00a0Willie Dixon,\u00a0who\u00a0paved the way for rock \u2019n\u2019 roll, and\u00a0also\u00a0provides\u00a0Oates\u00a0with an opportunity to tell his personal musical story, and how the kind of music that he was listening to informed who he is\u00a0as a musician outside of Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates.<\/p>\n<p>Oates\u2019\u00a0working relationship with\u00a0Guthrie Trapp began when the two met at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival about 17 years ago. Interestingly enough, even though Guthrie\u2019s considerably younger, when they got together and began to know each other personally and musically, they realized they had a lot of the same influences.\u00a0Guthrie Trapp also grew up in a musical family and a lot of the things he heard as a child were very similar to the things that\u00a0Oates\u00a0was doing when he was a kid back in the 50s and early 60s. So when they got together, they had a lot of commonalities in their roots and influences. The concept for the show is\u00a0to bring the living room to the stage, which both he and Guthrie talked\u00a0about while performing in a living room.\u00a0Bringing the point home Oates adds, \u201cYou can\u2019t make it seem like it\u2019s a music lecture. What you have to do is you have to entertain. But in the course of the entertaining, you can impart a message\u2014that\u2019s the key. The key is to be able to impart a message that\u2019s meaningful and perhaps enlightening, or opens the audience\u2019s minds to something new. At the same time, you have to entertain them. That\u2019s how I try to balance the show. I balance it with humor and information\u2014exposing them to music and artists that they weren\u2019t previously aware of. In that way, I guess I\u2019ve been successful.\u201d Commenting on\u00a0Guthrie Trapp, Oates expands further, \u201cHe\u00a0(Trapp) is just\u00a0such an amazing musician. It\u2019s always a pleasure to play with great musicians because they always elevate\u2014they make me better. The total is greater than the sum of its parts. He\u2019s an easy guy to hang around with\u2014he\u2019s fun and he\u2019s got a great personality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John\u00a0Oates\u00a0is associated\u00a0with the hits of Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates, so the show presents\u00a0an interesting dichotomy\u00a0for him.\u00a0Oates\u00a0offers a setlist of simmering Americana with Mississippi John\u00a0Hurt\u2019s \u201cStackolee\u201d (aka Stack O\u2019Lee, Stagolee, Stagger Lee)\u00a0about the murder of Billy Lyons by \u201cStag\u201d Lee Shelton in St. Louis, Missouri at Christmas 1895\u2014first published in 1911,\u00a0and first recorded in 1923, by Fred Waring\u2019s Pennsylvanians, a dance band founded at Penn State University by\u00a0Fred Waring. Then he adds to the concoction \u201cThink\u201d written by Lowman Pauling,\u00a0which\u00a0Oates\u00a0first heard as a James Brown cover, and Percy Mayfield\u2019s \u201cSend Me Someone to Love\u201d from 1953.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Homecoming<br \/>\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Evening\u00a0of Songs &amp; Stories\u00a0concert at\u00a0the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, PA in 2022, was\u00a0a kind of a homecoming for\u00a0John\u00a0Oates\u2014who grew\u00a0up about 15 minutes away from the venue.\u00a0He thanks the audience for showing up, allowing him to indulge his musical musings,\u00a0and supporting a night of folksy music.\u00a0Acknowledging his mom and dad,\u00a0he\u00a0adds that he wouldn\u2019t be here without his parents, and\u00a0seizes the opportunity to introduce his father, who is in attendance this night, and\u00a0stands up to applause. A symbolic circle is further completed when he recounts his connection to the great\u00a0Don Gibson classic\u00a0\u201cOh Lonesome Me.\u201d It was the first song he played and was one he learned when he was eight years old in Lansdale, PA. Years later,\u00a0at an airport in Nashville,\u00a0Oates\u00a0overheard a woman\u00a0on her cell phone\u00a0talking about going to see Oates perform\u2014that woman was Gibson\u2019s widow.\u00a0Oates\u00a0in turn introduced himself to her.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s only appropriate \u201cWhat a Wonderful World\u201d popularized by Louis\u00a0Armstrong\u00a0closes out the night\u2019s performance.\u00a0Oates\u00a0comments that the song is a bright ray of sunshine in challenging times.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21075\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-05-7366.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21075\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21075\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-05-7366.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-05-7366.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-05-7366-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-21075\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo credit Jeff Fasano &#8211; JeffFasano.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Larger Arenas Versus Theatres<br \/>\n<\/strong>Contrasting the experience of playing larger arenas versus theatres, Oates remarks, \u201cYes, I actually do prefer the theatre style show. This show (Evening\u00a0of Songs &amp; Stories) is particularly designed to be performed in a listening, small environment\u2014because it\u2019s personal, it\u2019s intimate and it requires that you can really connect with them. An arena show is really a broader stroke. You\u2019ve got people way up in the balcony, way in the back, you can\u2019t really see them, they\u2019re just dots in the background and you need the big video screens in order to reach them. You need the big production to fill that vast space. With this show, the one I\u2019m doing with\u00a0Guthrie, it\u2019s the exact opposite. I want to not fill the space; I want the space to come to us and that\u2019s why we said we wanted to bring the living room to the stage\u2014and that\u2019s what we tried to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Collaborators And The Nashville Experience<br \/>\n<\/strong>Adam Ezra, country hit maker Craig Wiseman\u00a0and\u00a0Joe Henry are some of the\u00a0talents with whom\u00a0John\u00a0Oates\u00a0has worked. He boils down the formula for choosing who\u00a0his creative partners will be,\u00a0\u201cI just hope for the best. I keep my ear to the ground. I listen to music. I hear things and I go\u2014who wrote that, that\u2019s cool, and I reach out or we meet. One of the many good things about being in Nashville is that you run across these incredible musicians all the time, in all kinds of settings. You\u2019ll hear a song and you\u2019ll say, \u2018Hey, who wrote that?\u2019 and someone will say that\u2019s so and so, I know him,\u00a0he lives over here and here\u2019s his phone number. I\u2019ll text him\u00a0and say, \u2018Hey man, you want to write a song?\u2019 It\u2019s literally as simple as that. I just kind of work with people who can bring something to the table that perhaps I can\u2019t or don\u2019t, or help me articulate an idea I might have. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn\u2019t, but that\u2019s it, pretty much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oates\u00a0says the Nashville experience has been wonderful for him, and transitions to his work with Craig Wiseman, who has more #1 country hits than anyone else.\u00a0Oates went out\u00a0drinking the night before getting together with\u00a0Wiseman,\u00a0and\u00a0confesses to being a lightweight in the arena of alcohol.\u00a0On the day the two met, Oates was\u00a0in a fog and told Wiseman that he had nothing.\u00a0Wiseman shared his own story of alcohol-fueled misadventures, and recounted the night he got so drunk that he couldn\u2019t find his hotel room on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.\u00a0\u201cLose It in Louisiana\u201d came out of that session.<\/p>\n<p>Joe Henry the lyricist, not the alt-country singer, has written for Frank Sinatra and John Denver. Henry and\u00a0Oates\u00a0worked on a song during COVID lockdown. The song \u201cSonny Terry &amp; Brownie McGhee\u201d\u00a0is about cooperation, and references the tale of American folk and blues duo Sonny Terry &amp; Brownie McGhee.\u00a0Terry and McGhee didn\u2019t get along that well in real life. But as time went on, one went blind and the other couldn\u2019t walk, and the need to rely on each other brought them closer together. It might be the\u00a0most honest and revealing song about John\u00a0Oates\u00a0the person. He articulates, \u201cIf you listen to the lyrics closely, there\u2019s a lot of insight in there into who I am as a person, and the type of things I care about. But there\u2019s also a lot of insight into my relationship with Daryl Hall, and my relationship to the world in general. I want to promote positiveness and kindness. I want to promote the idea of helping and cooperation. To me, that\u2019s the key to a civilized society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Photographer Jeff\u00a0Fasano (who has a new book out, <em>Americana Portrait Sessions<\/em>) is another creative\u00a0ally, and helped\u00a0arrange this interview. Oates reflects\u00a0on the\u00a0relationship: \u201cJeff\u2019s a Nashville guy. Jeff is just fantastic. We\u2019ve shot many, many pictures over the years. He\u2019s very in tune with the Americana community. I think he knows how to bring out the best. He\u2019s taken some pictures that are kind of a glimpse into the soul of the musician\u2014which is really what a great photographer would do.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21074\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-04-Folk-Alliance-2018-1164.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21074\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21074\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-04-Folk-Alliance-2018-1164.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"990\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-04-Folk-Alliance-2018-1164.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-04-Folk-Alliance-2018-1164-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-21074\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Oates at the Folk Alliance &#8211; Photo credit Jeff Fasano<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u201cDisconnected\u201d COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown Brings New Music<br \/>\n<\/strong>Philosophizing\u00a0about\u00a0the COVID pandemic,\u00a0Oates\u00a0states unflinchingly, \u201cAs bad as it was and as traumatic as it was for many people, from the medical point of view\u2014for me, it was an opportunity to stay home for a whole year. Over a year without really\u00a0having to travel\u2014was the first time in my entire professional life\u00a0that I had ever done that. I know that sounds crazy, but it\u2019s true. I got a chance to really reflect on a lot of things. I got a chance to reevaluate a lot of things personally, professionally, business -wise. I made a lot of changes. It gave me the time to step out and take a look at what I was doing and how I was doing it, especially\u00a0business-wise, and recalibrate and rearrange\u00a0a lot of\u00a0 important things\u00a0that I had not dealt with\u2014because I was always too busy to deal with it. I also really got real creative. I collaborated and wrote a bunch of songs, things that I just never would have the time to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John Oates\u2019 creativity during the pandemic emerged from the shadows of 2020\u2019s lockdown\u2014to be shared with the world on his official YouTube channel in 2023. He released singles and official music videos for new songs, which embody thematic elements of human struggle and racial equality\u2014while proposing harmony in an era of political, social and economic discord.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPushin\u2019 a Rock\u201d encapsulates the eternal struggle of humanity against problems. The metaphor of a boulder to represent challenges is simplistic, but highly effective. A black and white video features a pensive Oates sauntering across an urban landscape carrying the weight, while actors use non-verbal expressive body language adding to the narrative. A disco ball and lights flood the end of the video, bathing\u00a0Oates in optimism and color. This track channels Curtis Mayfield.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDisconnected\u201d is an introspective piece about a romance that is built on a house of cards, not solid ground.\u00a0Oates\u00a0portrays multiple roles simultaneously, including a filmmaker\u2014as well as his own backup singers. This song could fit as a more brooding R&amp;B companion piece to\u00a0\u201cShe\u2019s Gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21078\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-08-Guthrie-Trapp-Sug-Daniels-John-Oates-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21078\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21078\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-08-Guthrie-Trapp-Sug-Daniels-John-Oates-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-08-Guthrie-Trapp-Sug-Daniels-John-Oates-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-08-Guthrie-Trapp-Sug-Daniels-John-Oates-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-21078\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guthrie Trapp, Sug Daniels, John Oates at Colonial Theatre &#8211; Photo Credit Rodeo Marie Hanson<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhy Can\u2019t We Live Together\u201d is a cover of the Timmy Thomas 1972 anti-war anthem. Snapshots and footage from protests of the war in Vietnam to Afghanistan accords the video a retro vibe with a socially current and relevant message.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat a Wonderful World,\u201d another cover, offers enthusiasm and elation for humanity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cManeater\u201d has been stripped down to its original reggae version.\u00a0Vintage clips of Oates as a stripling,\u00a0soaking up the sun and surf of\u00a0Jamaica\u2014and enjoying the island\u2019s lifestyle for the video\u2014complements this song perfectly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToo Late to Break Your Fall\u201d like all the other tracks highlights Oates\u2019 vocal gymnastics. Crooning with\u00a0cool confidence,\u00a0Oates\u00a0punctuates the playful lyrical content like the value of a rainbow\u2019s gold. A big band swing sound and production adds a touch of class while the jazz-inspired guitar playing is redolent of\u00a0Django Reinhardt. Fish swimming through a saxophone solo in the music video evokes\u00a0MTV\u00a0of the early 1980s.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wisdom From 10 Number One Records And Over 20 Top 40 Hits<br \/>\n<\/strong>John\u00a0Oates\u00a0is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall Of Fame,\u00a0recipient of BMI Icon Award, MTV Awards and multiple\u00a0GRAMMY\u00a0nominations.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Songwriters Hall Of Fame without a doubt is\u00a0the one award that the teenage John Oates would be\u00a0most surprised to discover would be given to him as an adult.\u00a0He explains, \u201cEven though\u00a0the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was great to be part of, without the songs we wrote, we would not be in the\u00a0Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. So, I think it all starts there.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21079\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-09-Guthrie-Trapp-and-John-Oates-share-a-smile-during-concert-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21079\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21079\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-09-Guthrie-Trapp-and-John-Oates-share-a-smile-during-concert-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-09-Guthrie-Trapp-and-John-Oates-share-a-smile-during-concert-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-09-Guthrie-Trapp-and-John-Oates-share-a-smile-during-concert-at-Colonial-Theatre-Phoenixville-PA-3-16-2022-Photo-Credit-Rodeo-Marie-Hanson-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-21079\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guthrie Trapp &amp; John Oates at Colonial Theatre &#8211; Photo credit Rodeo Marie Hanson<\/p><\/div>\n<p>10 number one records and over 20 top 40 hits\u00a0are part of\u00a0John\u00a0Oates\u2019 stellar resume.\u00a0 He\u00a0produces, collaborates, develops new artists and has contributed music to motion picture soundtracks.\u00a0Howard Goldberg\u2019s 1976 cult film\u00a0<em>Apple Pie\u00a0<\/em>features dance music by the Daryl Hall \/ John Oates Band.\u00a0Oates also composed music for\u00a02023\u2019s\u00a0<em>Gringa<\/em>\u00a0 directed by E. J. Foerster and Marny Eng.\u00a0With such a hectic schedule, he still manages to find time to perform live.<\/p>\n<p>Hall &amp;\u00a0Oates have influenced other artists and pop culture, and are embedded in Philly\u2019s DNA as much as soft pretzels or the Liberty Bell. In May of 2023, the Philadelphia Zoo held a contest to name sloth cubs and \u201cHall &amp;\u00a0Oates\u201d was one of the two choices, and the following month saw the release of the Jennifer Lawrence romantic comedy\u00a0<em>No Hard Feelings\u00a0<\/em>which prominently placed\u00a0\u201cManeater\u201d in the film\u2019s plot and\u00a0soundtrack.<\/p>\n<p>Lending his wisdom,\u00a0Oates\u00a0offers the following guidance to\u00a0a young person\u00a0who wants to pursue a career in the music industry,\u00a0and shares his take on the value of music education in school:\u00a0\u201cMusic education\u2014I know that a lot of school districts are cutting back on the arts, which is a shame. I do know that the world has changed and the internet has provided a lot of opportunities for people to get information above and beyond the traditional academic model as it\u2019s been for many years. I think musicians and artists can find their way now without necessarily having it in school but it should not be removed from school. Students not as fortunate should be able to access the arts. I think it\u2019s very important.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d advise that you do the traditional thing that all musicians and creative people have done for centuries. You try to emulate the people that you respect and that move you, and that touch you. It doesn\u2019t have to be music, it could be anything. You try to understand what it is that they do that touches you and reaches you, and then if you can emulate it or try to emulate it, it\u2019s almost like unlocking a key to a certain type of knowledge and a\u00a0certain type of artistic point of view. Then hopefully once you do that, you can\u00a0really try to understand that, \u2018Hey! I love whatever.\u2019 I\u2019ll\u00a0just make an example with Joni Mitchell. I\u2019m going to learn some\u00a0Joni Mitchell songs. When you learn her songs, you get insight into her personality and into\u00a0her technique. Then once you do that, if you\u2019re creative, you can have that evolve into\u00a0your own personal style and perhaps come up with something that is uniquely yours. But you really do need to walk before you can run.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John Oates is currently on tour.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 by Rodeo Marie Hanson<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where can fans find out more?<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.JohnOates.com\">www.JohnOates.com<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/JohnOatesOfficial\/\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/JohnOatesOfficial\/<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/johnoatesmusic\/\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/johnoatesmusic\/<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/JohnOatesMusic\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/JohnOatesMusic<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnOates\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnOates<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21073\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-03-City-Winery-9713.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21073\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21073\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-03-City-Winery-9713.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-03-City-Winery-9713.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/John-Oates-03-City-Winery-9713-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-21073\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Oates at City Winery &#8211; Photo credit Jeff Fasano<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JOHN OATES \u2013 with Web-Exclusive Interview Musician:\u00a0 JOHN OATES Video:\u00a0 \u201cPushin\u2019 a Rock\u201d &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; THE GOOD ROAD OF SONGS, STORIES AND SMILES WITH MUSTACHIOED MYSTERY MAN JOHN OATES &nbsp; John\u00a0Oates\u2019 mustachioed face and black curly ringlets of hair have graced bounteous album sleeves and music videos.\u00a0The guitarist, singer and songwriter\u2019s\u00a0soft-spoken voice, humble attitude [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":21085,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7725],"tags":[13620,14246,14247,14248,14249,13718,13511,14250,14251,14252,14253,837,9056,14254,9884,14255,14256,3592,14257,14258,14259,14260,14261,14262,14263,9739,14264,2944,14265,1706,206,14266,14267,14268,8425,14269,14270,14271,14272,14273,14274,14275,14276,3886,14277,14278,14279,3598,8970,14280,14281,14282,8388,14283,14284,14285,3823,10163,10801,10802,14286,14287,3624,2816,7957,14288,2404,13622,991,14289,4315,3228,11149,14290,14291,665,10161,7566,14292,14293,3010,7834,951,8529,3821,14294,8013,7978,7277,14295,14296,1626,14297,14298,14299,14300,14301,14302,14303,14304,14305,14306,14307,5266,8541,3263,964,14308,4314,14309,10121,7327,14310,10122,13243,4196,14311,4012,14312,14313,14314,3723,14315,14316,14317,14318,14319,14320,14321,14322,663,148,14323,14324,14325,14326,14327,14328,14329,5085,8615,14330,14332,14331,7823,14333,14334,14335,3184,14346,9175,14336,14337,14338,14339,8796,14340,14341,14342,14343,14344,14345,14347],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21070"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21084,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21070\/revisions\/21084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}