John Oates

Biography

At first blush, Mississippi Mile might seem like a surprising title for an album that promises to take John Oates back to his deepest influences. Nearly everyone who’s paid attention to pop radio over the last four decades knows Daryl Hall & John Oates built much of their foundation on Philadelphia soul. If that superstar duo’s darker-haired half was going to make a back-to-roots move, shouldn’t it be called Philly Mile? But it’s no geomapping accident that gave Oates’ new solo album its name. “I was trying to re -visit my roots that preceded Hall and Oates,” he explains. “And there’s a lot to it: There’s urban R&B, there’s doo-wop, there’s folk, there’s folk-blues, there’s Appalachian… But on this particular album, I was going more for the Americana/roots stuff, and a lot of that is what I feel I personally brought to the table in the partnership between Daryl and I."