John Oates on Life After Hall & Oates: 'I'm trying to rediscover who I am as a person'

For the majority of John Oates' professional career, solo work was a means of keeping him busy and creatively fulfilled between the Hall & Oates projects that took up most of his time. But now that the duo have hopelessly broken up after more than 50 years together, Oates has the time to focus all his energies on his own music, starting with his new LP Reunificationreleased May 17.

The album is the culmination of years of work and features original compositions he wrote with AJ Croce, Keith Sykes, Jim Lauderdale, Joe Henry and Adam Ezra. There are also covers of songs by John Prine and Allan Fraser. It was recorded with many top Nashville session musicians including bassist Marc Rogers, guitarist David Kalmusky, drummer Josh Day and dobro player Jerry Douglas.

“It's a very mature and introspective and reflective record,” says Oates Rolling rock via Zoom from his home in Nashville. “In the song 'All I Ask of You,' I'm projecting into my far, far future. I ask, “What will people think of me on the street?” What will be my personal legacy?' It's not so much my musical legacy, but my human legacy. These are the things that are important to me.”

The title track was inspired by a conversation he had with his father, who is about to turn 101. “He's not doing well,” says Oates. “But he is clear enough to see the approaching horizon. When I visited him a while ago, he told me that he felt like he was going to be reunited with my mom. Like many people at the end of their lives, he's starting to think about the next step.”

He started thinking about how that word “reunion” applies to him, especially now that he's facing a future as a solo act after more than half a century at Hall & Oates. “I've been reunited with myself,” she says. “I'm trying to rediscover who I am as a person, both personally and professionally and creatively. I realized that there was a deeper and more subtle meaning to “reunion.” I wrote the lines, “The party lights are on/Leaving early tonight/Getting ready for my reunion.”

The Reunification The track “Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee” is ostensibly an ode to the legendary blues duo who spent decades playing together, but it actually deals with deeper issues. Oates studied their history and learned that McGhee went blind as a teenager and Terry struggled to walk later in life. “They literally needed each other to get on stage and perform in the last part of their careers,” he says. “And I thought to myself, 'Well, that's an amazing story in itself.' But what's most exciting to me was the fact that it was really an ode to kindness and giving a helping hand, and that's what I wanted to convey in these lyrics.”

Oates decided to cover John Prine's 2005 song “Long Monday” after being invited to perform at a tribute show for the songwriter at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. It brought his mind back to the 1972 recording Whole oats, Hall and Oates' first record. It was recorded in New York with Arif Martin just as he was producing Diamonds in the Rough with Prine.

“John and I would literally cross paths in the studio, going in and out of this amazing Atlantic studio in New York by Columbus Circle,” says Oates. “So many of these incredible hits and amazing records from Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles were recorded there. We had a lot of common DNA in that regard. And to make a long story short, I decided to play “Long Monday” at the Ryman. I liked it so much that I recorded it afterwards.”

“Ballroom Girls” it's also a cover, but it's much darker. Originally recorded in 1971 by Canadian folk duo Fraser & DeBolt. Oates found the album in a record store in Holland shortly after its release. “It made me cry,” says Oates. “It made me want to come back to America. I thought, “My journey is over, I must go home.” Darryl and I hadn't worked together at the time. We were friends and hanging out, whatever, but something told me it was time to go home. That record has stuck with me forever, since 1971, and I knew one day I would record it.”

Oates plays many Reunification songs on his ongoing US tour, which hits intimate theaters with a stripped-down band. “It's an audition-type show,” he says. “I'm not playing any shows. This is a hard and fast rule for me. It really is a listening experience.” Near the end of the set, a handful of Hall & Oates classics like “Out of Touch,” “She's Gone” and “I Can't Go for That” break out.

“The rule of thumb for a performer is to save your big ones for last,” he says. “I always played 'She's Gone' at the end. It's one of those songs that stands the test of time, and it's very important to me in my life and in my music. But on the last run, I decided to end with 'Reunion'. I didn't know how it was going to work, but everyone stood up and applauded. I was like, “Wow. I've never in my entire life ended a show with a song that no one has ever heard.”

He stepped even further out of his comfort zone near the end of last year when he agreed to appear on the 10th season of Fox's The masked singer. It required him to wear a cumbersome anteater outfit every night and sing songs like Marc Cohn's “Waking in Memphis” and the Backstreet Boys' “I Want It That Way.” When the request first came, he was very uncertain about participating.

“I thought, 'I wonder what if people maybe don't recognize my voice because of the fact that Daryl's voice is such a signature of Hall & Oates' big hits?' He says.

The suit was extremely uncomfortable. “It was hot as hell in there,” he says. “I couldn't see out of the eyes and I couldn't turn my head because the nose was on the ground. I had to walk and count my steps so I didn't literally fall off the stage. I had counted my steps while singing the songs and trying to perform.”

He was competing with the likes of Macy Gray, Billie Jean King, Metta World Peace and Keyshia Cole, but he didn't know it: Backstage, Oates had to wear a “Don't Talk to Me” sweatshirt along with gloves and a tint welder's mask. “You have to wear it in the hotel to walk through the lobby to get into the limo, to go to the TV studio,” he says. “Then you get out of the car and they drive you to your trailer. It's the only time you can remove these things. Even the directors don't know who you are.”

One particularly crazy day came when he had to tape the show the day after performing at the Newport Folk festival. As soon as she got off the stage, she rushed to the Boston airport to catch a red-eye flight to Los Angeles. “You're talking about an extreme musical style,” he says.

She came in sixth place on the show and has no regrets about any of it. “The judges are fantastic,” he says. “The atmosphere is so positive. They are not there to tear anyone down. They're just really having fun. When I unmasked, I said, “Okay, I think I'm done.”

His focus now is his upcoming series of solo shows, but he's also finishing an EP of contemporary R&B songs he recorded with Nashville singer/songwriter Devon Gilfillian. He will record a few songs with blues-rock band Robert Jon & the Wreck and producer Dave Cobb as well. “There's a bunch of stuff going on that really, really lights my fire,” he says. “And I want to see where it takes me.”