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Although much of the world knows him as one-half of the legendary duo Hall & Oates, John Oates has long embraced a deeper connection to American roots music — a connection that only grew stronger after his move to Nashville in the early 2000s.
Now, Nashville fans will have a chance to see that roots-driven side up close when Oates takes the stage at 3rd & Lindsley on February 20th.
Relocating to Music City more than two decades ago, Oates was welcomed into the city’s flourishing Americana community, surrounded by like-minded musicians and songwriters. The move sparked a creative reawakening, allowing him to reconnect with the earliest influences that shaped his musical DNA. Since then, he has released seven solo albums, a steady stream of singles and collaborations, carving out a distinct identity beyond the pop superstardom that first made him a household name.
But Oates’ story begins well before the bright lights of arena tours. Growing up in the early 1950s, he witnessed the birth of rock and roll firsthand. Singing and playing guitar from the age of five, he remembers the seismic shift when artists like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley redefined popular music. The sounds pouring out of AM radios — from labels such as Stax Records, Sun Records and Chess Records — became the foundation of his lifelong musical journey.
By the early ’60s, during the folk revival, Oates immersed himself in America’s deep musical traditions while living in Philadelphia. He frequented coffeehouses and festivals to hear icons like Mississippi John Hurt and Doc Watson, and spent nights at the legendary Uptown Theater taking in R&B powerhouses such as Otis Redding, The Temptations and James Brown.
Those formative experiences shaped Oates into the artist Nashville audiences will see on February 20th — a keeper of the flame whose music blends rock, folk, soul and Americana into something timeless, personal and unmistakably his own.
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