Legendary musician John Oates comes to Lone Tree on November 9. Before his visit, he spoke with us about his show “Songs and Stories with John Oates” and his early inspirations in music.
When an artist has a storied career filled voracious fans that want to hear the “hits,” it takes a courage to consciously turn towards a different concert experience – one filled with personal stories, original music, and an intimate performance style.
This is exactly what John Oates has been doing for the past 15 years with his concert, “An Evening of Songs and Stories with John Oates.” Well known as half of the powerhouse duo Hall and Oates, he has now taken a different approach to performing, allowing the venues in which he performs to provide an intimacy that audiences may not expect from him.
“The venue is a part of the show,” Oates says. While he knows that he could sell larger venues, Oates has now turned to concert halls that allow him to focus on the pure sound he is making. The intimacy of the venue is important because the show consists of Oates playing guitar and singing and accompanied by a single percussionist.
“I spent my life learning how to do a certain thing,” he continued. “Playing, singing, and writing music. Now, I’m waving the flag for an old-school approach to performance. That’s why I want to play in places like Lone Tree, or the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen.”
Splitting his time between Nashville and Aspen, Oates has a special connection to Colorado and the unique nature of our audiences. “Colorado has a vibe,” he says. “Some of the best bands in the world have come out of Colorado – it’s more laid back and I love it.”
Attributing his connection to music to his parents and their love of swing and big band during the 1940s, Oates sees his own musical development as a parallel to the growth of rock and roll in the US. Learning from the legendary guitarist Jerry Ricks, Oates says that he picked up a lot of his technique by watching the greats at work. “I would come to my teacher’s house for a lesson and Mississippi John Hurt would be asleep on the couch. You know how kids are learning by watching the greats on YouTube nowadays, I had that experience, expect in person.”
Those early experiences are peppered throughout the songs and stories he tells in his concert. Using his influences of Doc Watson, Chuck Berry, and Curtis Mayfield, Oates has been creating his own original work outside of his collaboration with Daryl Hall. “It’s an interesting thing,” he says. “It used to be that I would play my original songs and people would politely tolerate them. Now, since I’ve added the stories about how these songs are created, that’s become audiences’ favorite part of the show.”
But Oates is wise enough to know that people do want to hear their favorites – the hits they know and love. “The set list has an arc – a dynamic and emotional arc. Since it’s just me and a percussionist, we can be totally flexible and adjust what we’re doing based on what we’re getting from the audience.”
So, what can audiences expect from an evening of songs and stories with John Oates? “People are not quite sure what they’re going to get,” Oates says. “They end up walking away pleasantly surprised having not heard half of a Hall and Oates show. It’s pure, organic music, singing and playing.”
“An Evening of Songs and Stories with John Oates” takes place at the Lone Tree Arts Center on November 9, 2023 at 7:30 PM.
