“I don’t know. … It becomes more of a question of physicality at that point; it really does. The thing about Tony Bennett, you have to remember, is that what he’s always done and what he’s doing now is — you know, if he can stand next to that piano and sing, he’s OK. But if you gotta move around the stage, and you’re playing guitar, and you got loud, big amps and stuff, it’s a whole different thing there.
“Listen, I guarantee you, if Daryl Hall can sing, he will sing till the day he no longer walks the earth,” Oates continues, “because that’s who he is. He’s an incredible singer, and he’s a committed, lifelong musician. So I don’t doubt that (he means what he says) at all. For me, though, personally, a day could come when I just don’t want to travel. It’s not the playing — it’s not the two hours on stage that get you — it’s all the other stuff. It’s the flying, the busing, the traveling, the hotels, the eating in restaurants. That’s what will get you. The two hours on stage is the reward for all that. You know, the old cliche: ‘I play for free, but you gotta pay me to leave my house.'”
Oates actually is on the road more than Hall is these days: He has an Americana side project with his Good Road Band, and their extensive 2018 tour included a stop at Charlotte’s intimate Neighborhood Theatre in February, with the bandleader primarily on an acoustic guitar.
But he still enjoys the big shows as much as the little ones.
“I’m very proud of the music I made with Daryl, that those songs have stood the test of time,” Oates says. “They’ve provided me with a platform to do anything I want. I don’t take that for granted. I’m very conscious of that. The Hall & Oates band is an amazing band, and I love playing with great musicians. So I have the best of all worlds. Then I go on stage with my Good Road Band in these small venues and we have this unbelievable synergy. … So it’s like I have two incredible bands. I’m a lucky guy. There’s hardly anybody that gets to do what I’m doing, and gets to be accepted in both worlds.”