After being unable to tour together all year, this weekend, Daryl Hall & John Oates will be reuniting to make music for fans — kind of.  They’ll be appearing on the same bill, but each will perform one of their solo songs.

The occasion is Oates Song Fest 7908, an online benefit concert this Saturday, March 20.  Conceived as a virtual music festival, it’s available to stream for free, but viewers are being encouraged to donate to Feeding America, the charity that supports food banks across the U.S.

The star-studded lineup includes Dan + Shay, Michael McDonald, Sara Bareilles, Gavin DeGraw, Jewel, Matt Nathanson, Shawn Colvin, Sheila E. and Michael Franti, among others.

John tells USA Today that he got Daryl to participate with a unique pitch.

“I asked Daryl if he would do it, and…I said, ”You know, this is a great opportunity for both of us to do a solo song that we never get to play when we’re together because our big hits so overpower everything else that we’ve done,’” John explains. 

So Daryl will play “I’m In a Philly Mood,” from his 1993 solo album Soul Alone, John tells USA Today, while he’ll close the show with a new song called “Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.”  Those are the names of two legendary folk/blues musicians who often worked together.

Daryl and John are scheduled to resume touring this August, and John says, “We want to play, we really want to play…[but] now, after being off the road for a year, it’s going to take a little while to get back on the horse, so to speak.”

“We have to rehearse a little bit, woodshed a little bit,” he admits. “But that’s fun. It keeps your brain working.”

Oates Song Fest airs 8 p.m. on Saturday via Nugs.net.

By Andrea Dresdale
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