John Oates
with The Good Road Band
Friday, January 4, 2019 at 8PM at SOPAC
John Oates is one-half of the best-selling duo of all time, Daryl Hall & John Oates, as well as a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Now he has teamed up with a number of accomplished Americana musicians, known as The Good Road Band, to deliver his sixth solo album, Arkansas (Thirty Tigers).
The album pays homage to the state’s beautiful countryside and Oates’ interest in early American music. Beginning as a tribute to Oates’ musical idol, Mississippi John Hurt, the project evolved during a series of Nashville recording sessions into a unique, retrospective collection that drew from a wide range of Oates’ creative influences. John Oates’ critically acclaimed album is out now.
“My uncle Tony, after World War II, moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas and lived there for the rest of his life. I went there to visit him,” says Oates, saying that the wide-open landscape captivated him as a youngster. Then, on a recent trip back to the area, inspiration struck. “I stood at night out in the middle of the cotton fields all along the banks of the Mississippi River and it was one of the most beautiful moments that I’ve ever experienced, with the moonlight shining on the white cotton, and I just thought, ‘Man, this is so American, in a way.'” Oates soon put pen to paper. “I went back to Nashville, and the next day I just wrote the song. It just came out of me.”
Rolling Stone hailed Arkansas as one of the Most Anticipated Country Albums of 2018. In addition, the publication said the album “pays tribute to the voices that became before him… shining a light not only on the state’s countryside, but its contributions to country music, too.”
“Listening to the sonic flavors of Arkansas is akin to a visit to a museum where the early history of music is on display – whether that genre be Country, Blues, or Rock.” – Billboard
“Arkansas may be Oates’ very best album simply because the music is so much a part of him that he can deliver it with a simple intensity that evokes a range of feelings in the listeners.” – No Depression