John Oates Unites with Bob Weir, Dave Grohl, Sammy Hagar for Charity Show

John Oates is teaming up with Bob Weir, Dave Grohl, Sammy Hagar, Jim James, Keb Mo, Shawn Colvin, Michael Franti, and his Hall & Oates partner Daryl Hall on March 20th for Oates Song Fest 7908, a streaming concert that will raise money for Feeding America.

“This will be an entertaining and innovative way for the music community to share their songwriting creativity in an effort help feed Americas’ hungry families in need,” Oates said in a statement.

Oates will co-host the event with Saxsquatch, a “one-beast band” that has gone viral by playing socially distanced gigs dressed up like Bigfoot. The Hall & Oates singer and his wife Aimee were inspired to put the show together by a gig he produced in 2010 at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, Colorado.

“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, when it became clear that live shows would not be possible, Aimee and I pivoted to the idea of creating a virtual version for charity,” he said, “and Oates Song Fest 7908 was born.”

The show is free, but viewers will be asked to donate to the cause. It will be streamed across multiple platforms via NugsTV.

Hall & Oates were originally set to spend 2020 on the road with Squeeze and K.T. Tunstall, but they had to call it off after just a handful of warm-up shows due to the pandemic. Right now, Hall is working on their first album of original songs since 2003’s Do It for Love.

“It’s in the early, preliminary days of it,” Oates told IndieLand last year. “He’s very excited, and he’s been spending some time in Europe. He’s found some young producers he’s kind of getting energized with. He’ll jump-start the process and then I’ll definitely jump on board later.”