“John Oates and the Good Road Band Live in Nashville” — Review
When you see him onstage along with Daryl Hall, he represents one half of arguably the most successful duo in pop music history. John Oates knows how to be a rock star. Since the mid-1970s he has traveled the world and played before millions of fans, helping to craft a musical tapestry that has become a timeless soundtrack for generations old and new.
But there’s another side to this cultural craftsman that is less about hit records more about digging deep into the foundational layers of American music. When John Oates formed the Good Road Band a number of years ago (taking the name from his well-received Good Road to Follow” solo album,) he emerged wearing a number of new hats, including musicologist, raconteur and historian.
Sifting through personal memories and long-gone nuggets first anointed and blessed by uniquely American voices including Mississippi John Hurt and Jimmy Rogers, the birth of the Good Road Band gave Oates a platform to educate and entertain all at once. The Arkansas album which followed represented a musical milestone, sum-total excursion for the artist; a shedding of sorts of his pop culture skin to reveal an authentic, modern-day bluesman.
“I was always fascinated by the rural roots of our country’s music that flow from the deep South and the mountains of Appalachia. What has now been labeled Americana, opened the door for me starting to listen to John Lee Hooker, Doc Watson and so many other seminal artists long before the British Invasion turned kids on to them in the 1960s,” he said. “I spent hours digging into the originals.”
Now, with the release of John Oates & The Good Road Band ‘Live In Nashville,’ we get to experience the live, seasoned results of Oates and his well-oiled band in full bloom, right at the top of their arc.
Recorded at the intimate and legendary Station Inn in the Gulch neighborhood of Oates’ adopted city of Nashville, it’s a full-circle moment for the band as this is where they first got the shows on the road more than two years ago. Featuring an all-star collection of Music City’s best session and touring musicians like mandolin legend Sam Bush, pedal steel maestro Russ Pahl (Dan Auerbach), electric guitar icon Guthrie Trapp (Jerry Douglas), bass player Steve Mackey (Peter Frampton), cello prodigy Nate Smith (Kacey Musgraves) and drummer/percussionist extraordinaire Josh “Daddy” Day (Sugarland).
Live in Nashville traces how country, blues and gospel bubbled up from New Orleans flowing through the delta of the Mississippi River and the cotton fields of Arkansas seeding its influence in Memphis, St. Louis, on to Chicago and the rest of the world. John describes the sound of this Live album as “Dixieland, dipped in bluegrass, and salted with Delta blues.”
“Something magical happened,” said John about his first time playing with The Good Road Band in the studio. “The thing you pray for, but so rarely achieve. My producer just said, ‘I don’t know what this is, John, but keep doing it because it’s cool.’”
And kept doing it he did. Clear evidence of just how comfortable Oates is with his bandmates is reflected in his fluid and supple picking and playing. Oates’ underrated lead playing is finally getting the attention it deserves on arena stages playing with the Hall & Oates band, but within the Good Road Band it’s been obvious since day one: he is an acolyte who has learned well from the masters he has studied for so long. But again, the band chemistry is so effortless and supportive that clearly it’s bringing out even stronger playing (and singing) in Oates
Oates hand picks his musical selections with the care of a curator. The-gospel blues opener, “Lord Send Me,” the Delta blues of the standard “Stack o Lee” and an electrified take on “Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor,” dubbed “Pallet Soft and Low,” where John manages to show off some of his well-honed rock guitar skills all give Oates and company many places to shine. In yet another “full-circle moment,” John pays tribute to his own childhood with a cover of Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me,” one of the first songs he learned to sing and play on guitar as a nine-year-old after hearing it on the radio. In particular, hearing everything swing into action on this track is a marvel as solos are traded with infectious and playful abandon. Relaxed, confident and thoroughly in-the-moment of this performance, this concert document sparkles and shines with tons of this sort of heartfelt musical interplay.
Purists will appreciate the care given to both these chestnuts and originals, but this is also a fresh-sounding collection that would feel just as home on a millennial road trip or hipster coffeehouse as it would at the Grand Ol Opry. Maybe it’s his years selling tens of millions of albums, but Oates, even when going deep in the Delta, knows how to craft an album that finds unexpected melodic magic in all the right places.
And no matter how strong the performances of the frontman, John Oates wants you to know and take seriously the power of those around him.
“In a very big way, I feel this album is a tribute as much to my band members as it is to the original musicians inspired me in the first place. Their world-class playing is astounding but it’s that way that they listen to each other that showcases their true artistry. It’s like putting a sports team together. Chemistry is as important as talent and I feel very fortunate to be on stage or in the studio with these incredible musicians. They simply bring out the best in me.”
The album will be officially released across all streaming platforms on September 18th. In the meantime, here’s a video of John and the Good Road Band, culled from the album.
