John Oates “1000 Miles of Life” features some of Nashville’s finest session players including Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas.

Los Angeles, CA — For John Oates, longtime member of music’s best-selling duo of all time Daryl Hall & John Oates, his second solo album, 1000 Miles of Life, scheduled for release on September 23rd on PS Records in association with U-Watch/DKE Records and distributed by ICON Music Entertainment Services, was a labor of love and devotion, a summary of his three decades as a professional musician. Amazon.com will have an exclusive digital version of 1000 Miles of Life starting on September 9th up until the September 23rd street date, when it will become available in all digital and retail outlets.

“It was a wake-up call for me,” says John about the album, his second solo effort and first since 2002’s Phunk Shui. “After 30-plus years devoting myself to my art and craft, I needed to make a musical statement that someday I could look back on and realize, at that moment of time, I did exactly what I wanted to do. I’ve never written songs like this. I was on this inspirational roll. There was an urgency to it. I realized that I had no more time in my life for rehearsals… and I took that energy into the studio.”

John dedicates the album to three inspired individuals who had recently passed away, but were major influences in his career—producer Arif Mardin (who produced Hall & Oates’ first two albums on Atlantic Records), Jerry Lynn Williams (a writer who contributed songs to Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt and B.B. King, among others) and his original guitar mentor Jerry Ricks, who introduced him to the roots blues/folk scene in Philadelphia in the late 60s.

To prepare for the album, Oates traveled to Nashville and hooked up with veteran engineer Bil VornDick (“The guy had the keys to every studio in town,” marvels John). It was Bil’s recording technique for acoustic instruments that gives the record the airy quality reminiscent of classic albums from the past. The next step was to bring in the crème de la crème of the city’s session players, including bluegrass legends Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush, “I wanted players who knew how to frame a song,” says John, “Who knew how to take a lyric and enhance it.”

Co-produced by John with Jed Leiber, son of legendary songwriter Jerry Leiber, the album features eight orginal new songs, most of which were written this past year. In addition, there is an outstanding version of the Jerry Lynn Williams’ classic “Sending Me Angels” perfomed with the Blind Boys of Alabama as well as John’s interpretation of Daniel Lanois’ “Sometimes”. The new songs are complimented by the beautiful ballad, “I Found Love,” a folky ballad he wrote for his wife in 1993 as well as a new take on “Change of Season” originally recorded in the late 1980s.

Among the new tracks listen to “Ghost Town,” inspired by his visit to a post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, this standout track with its atmospheric, cinematic feel, is a highlight of 1000 Miles of Life, featuring a plaintive banjo solo by Fleck, Blues Traveler’s John Popper on harp and an eerie New Orleans funeral march coda which seems to arise right out of the mist.

“When I went to the city, we got a chance to hang out in those neighborhoods destroyed by the hurricane,” says John. “I was shocked and embarrassed by the fact that two years later, a major American city could be left in that state of chaos. That really affected me. People losing their city but not losing their heart.”

Some of the other guests on the album include The Blind Boys of Alabama (“Sending Me Angels”), John Popper, (“Ghost Town”) Bekka Bramlett (“Carved in Stone”) and her mom Bonnie Bramlett of Delaney and Bonnie fame (“1000 Miles of Life”) as well as legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, longtime Hall & Oates band member T Bone Wolk, Jed Leiber on keyboards, string meister Jonathan Yudkin, bassists Michael Rhodes and Mark Fain, pedal steel and electric guitarist Dan Dugmore, drummers Doug Belote, Chad Cromwell and Shannon Forrest, percussionist Eric Darken, guitarists Tom and Bob Britt as well as Nathan Paul Chapman. Basic tracks were recorded in Nashville, vocals and guitars were laid down at Great Divide Studios in Aspen and the album was mixed back in L.A. at Leiber’s Nightbird Studios at The Sunset Marquis.

“I did everything on blind faith and gut feeling, but it worked like a charm,” says John. “The project began to take on this incredible momentum. There was a creative energy that carried the project through. Every musician dedicated themselves to these songs. It was the most effortless, joyful, inspirational playing I’ve experienced since recording Abandoned Luncheonette. There was a special chemistry… a special moment in time.”

Now that it’s finished, Oates is confident the process of recording a solo album will only enhance the music he makes with Hall and Oates.

“Doing this album is good for both of us,” he says. “When we do come back together, we bring those experiences to what we do, which makes it even better. But this is a very personal record for me and, without a doubt, the highlight of my recording career.”

For more information on John Oates and 1000 Miles of Life, go to http://www.johnoates.com/ as well as myspace.com/johnoatesmusic

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Kentucky
June 20-21 — Renfro Valley Bluegrass Festival - Renfro Valley KY. Bluegrass artists to appear include: Grasstowne, Dale Ann Bradley, All American Bluegrass Band, Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition, The Grascals and more. For ticket information call (800) 765-7464.

Maryland
June 21 - 10:00 AM — Béla Fleck - Throw Down Your Heart - Movie Screening.
Directed by Sascha Paladino (who is also Fleck’s younger brother), Throw Down Your Heart documents Fleck’s enthralling journey through Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali to uncover the roots of the banjo, an instrument that is now regarded as quintessentially American. Tickets are $10.00. More information can be found at http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/throw-down-your-heart/

New York
June 21 — Tug Hill Bluegrass Festival - Lowville, NY.

Ohio
June 20-21 — Poston Lake Bluegrass Festival - Guysville, OH. Bluegrass acts schedule to take the stage include: J.D. Crowe & the New South, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Bluegrass Strangers, Bluegrass Mountaineers, The Hart Brothers, Dailey & Vincent, Dan Paisley & Southern Grass, IIIrd Tyme Out and more. Tickets run $25 (Fri) and $30 (Sat) or a festival pass for $50. Free camping is also available (no hookups).

Tennessee
June 20 - 9:00 PM — Williams & Clark Expedition plays the Station Inn in Nashville Tenn.

June 20-21 — Earhart Music Festival, Bristol TN. Bluegrass artists scheduled to perform over 2 days include: The Steeldrivers, The Charlie Sizemore Band, Kenny and Amanda Smith, Red Stick Ramblers, Mark Johnson & Emory Lester, Old Line Skiffle, The Grascals, Bluegrass Addiction and more. Single Day tickets are $25 (Fri) and $30 (Sat) or a weekend festival pass good for both days is $45 at the gate.

Virginia
June 21 — Wayne Henderson Music Festival & Guitar Competition - Mouth of Wilson, VA. Artists scheduled to appear include: George Hamilton IV, The Kruger Brothers, Robin Kessinger, The Harris Brothers, Wayne Henderson and Friends and more. festival admission is $10 each with children 12 and under free with paid adult.

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Arkansas
June 18-21 — Turkey Track Bluegrass Festival - Waldron AK. Bluegrass Artists scheduled to perform include: Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, Marty Raybon and Full Circle, The Isaacs, Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition, Pine Mountain Railroad and more. Single Day Tickets run $10 (Thurs) and $20 (Fri, Sat, Sun) or a 4-day pass is available for $60.

Maryland
June 17 - 8:00 PM Béla Fleck - Throw Down Your Heart - Movie Screening.
Directed by Sascha Paladino (who is also Fleck’s younger brother), Throw Down Your Heart documents Fleck’s enthralling journey through Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali to uncover the roots of the banjo, an instrument that is now regarded as quintessentially American. Tickets are $10.00. More information can be found at http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/throw-down-your-heart/

Tennessee
June 18 — The Dan Tyminksi Band will perform at a “Wheels” CD release show at The Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tenn. The show begins at 8:00 PM and tickets are $28.00 at the door. The Belcourt Theatre is located at 2102 Belcourt Ave in Nashville, Tenn 37212.

Wisconsin
June 18-21 — Flatrock Bluegrass Jamboree - Antigo, WI. Artists scheduled include: The Farewell Drifters, IIIrd Generation, Deep Fried Grass and Sloppy Joe. Tickets are free (Wed only) $20, $25, and $30 (Thurs, Fri, Sat) or a 4 day pass for $75.00.

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The Duhks will release “Fast Paced World” on the Sugar Hill label August, 12, 2008. Photo by Laura Crosta.

Nashville, TN — Hailed by the New York Times as one of the artists at the forefront of the neo-folk movement, the Duhks continue the evolution with their fourth album, “Fast Paced World,” set for an August 12, 2008 release on Sugar Hill Records. “We traveled from Winnipeg, locked ourselves in a Nashville basement, pooled our ideas together and invented a new sound,” says new frontwoman and bilingual, budding soul queen, Sarah Dugas (she replaced Jessee Havey in 2007).

Produced by Jay Joyce, who joins an impressive line of producers (Béla Fleck, Tim O’Brien) before him, the Duhks have created their most energetic, fully realized, unearthly album to date. Seriously. “Jay’s basement studio was like something out of the Star Trek Enterprise,” adds founder and clawhammer banjoist, Leonard Podolak, who, in the past, “traditionally stuck close to the acoustic sound of our instruments. This record is a beautiful mosaic of different ideas and soundscapes.”

Leonard, Sarah, Tania Elizabeth (fiddle, mandolin), guitarist Jordan McConnell and new worldbeat drummer Christian Dugas (Sarah’s brother) have melded French lounge pop (”Toujours Vouloir”) and scratchy soul meditations on the Galveston flood in 1900 (”Mighty Storm”) and sleeping (”Sleepin’ Is All I Wanna Do”) with the soundtrack of the weirdest 1930s Marlene Dietrich movie you never saw (”This Fall”), and beyond. “We’re all proud of this record and can’t wait to release it to the world,” adds Sarah.

In the space between the Grammy-nominated ‘Migrations’ (2006, Sugar Hill Records) and now, the Juno-winning band has gained critical love (”overall virtuosity that could make them stars” - Boston Globe), toured the world and earned a solid fan base - no doubt due to their manic, spirited live shows. (Check YouTube for John Paul Jones joining the band for “Whole Lotta Love”).

Environmental issues have always been a passion for the band, inspiring them to launch The Duhks Sustainability Project (www.greenduhks.com). The goal is to “tour as sustainably as possible - Biodiesel, local organic farmers, sustainable eco-conscious clothing,” says Tania, who was invited by Bonnaroo to speak about sustainability during the festival on June 13th. In addition, Bonnaroo has chosen the Duhks to perform on the Solar Stage on June 14th.

The Duhks on tour

• Jun 6 — Bamajam Festival - Enterprise, AL
• Jun 7 — Freebird Live - Jacksonville Beach, FL
• Jun 8 — Skipper’s Smokehouse - Tampa, FL
• Jun 13 — Bonnaroo - Manchester, TN
• Jun 21 — Fly Me to the Moon Saloon - Telluride, CO
• Jun 22 — Telluride Bluegrass Festival - Telluride, CO

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