Exclusive RockCellarTV Interview with John Oates at the Troubadour (Plus Bonus Performance)

As one half of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame duo Hall and Oates, John Oates knows a thing or two about a well-crafted pop/rock song — but he also has a deep appreciation for the roots of American music.

He explores this on Arkansas, his new solo album that finds Oates and his backing band paying tribute to some classic recordings. With that album’s release fresh in his mind, Oates sat down with Rock Cellar’s Ken Sharp at the world famous Troubadour in West Hollywood before a recent solo gig for our latest installment of RockCellarTV. It follows our deep, candid conversation with Rick Springfield from last month — be sure to watch that one if you haven’t yet.

In the chat, which you can enjoy below, Oates discusses making his new record and being in Nashville, songwriting, his inspiration as an artist and much more — and even treats us to two intimate acoustic performances! The first is of the underrated Hall and Oates gem “Crazy Eyes,” and the second is “That’ll Never Happen No More,” a Blind Blake song featured on Arkansas.

RockCellarTV was introduced a few years ago as an effort to allow larger-than-life music icons to get up close and personal, discussing whatever they want — for however long they want, resulting in some candid conversations about hits, successful albums and music legacies … as well as misses, scandals and anything else they were comfortable discussing.

John Oates joins the ranks of those we’ve spoken with in this capacity during RockCellarTV’s history, a list that includes Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, Walter Egan, Stewart Copeland, Judy Collins, Rita Coolidge, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits, Steve Hackett, John Oates, Rick Springfield, Gene Simmons of KISS, Steve Lukather of Toto, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, Todd Rundgren, Ringo Starr and more.

Some of these chats took place at Rock Cellar HQ in California, while others were filmed on-location at venues (like the world famous Troubadour in Hollywood, in the case of our chat with John Oates) as the artists prepared for a gig. They’re all up on our YouTube channel.