Arkansas is a 2018 Americana album by John Oates, who is best known as being part of the rock and soul duo Hall & Oates. The album was originally released on January 26, 2018. It was recorded with a group of Nashville session musicians called the Good Road Band.
The album originally began as a tribute to Oates' idol, American country blues singer and guitarist Mississippi John Hurt. Alongside two new songs by Oates, many of the songs are re-imagined traditional Delta, country blues and ragtime selections, such as Emmett Miller's "Anytime" and Jimmie Rodgers' "Miss the Mississippi and You".
Oates is New York City-born and Philadelphia-raised, but has a deep connection to the Arkansas region. Oates explained to Billboard Magazine, "My uncle Tony, after World War II, moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas and lived there for the rest of his life. I went there to visit him. I stood at night out in the middle of the cotton fields all along the banks of the Mississippi River and it was one of the most beautiful moments that I've ever experienced, with the moonlight shining on the white cotton, and I just thought, 'Man, this is so American, in a way.'"
Contents
Personnel
On the sleeve, the album is credited to "John Oates with the Good Road Band".
John Oates – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, arrangements (1, 4, 6, 9)
Guthrie Trapp – electric guitar, backing vocals (3)
Sam Bush – mandolin, backing vocals (2, 3)
Russ Pahl – pedal steel guitar, backing vocals (3)
Steve Mackey – bass guitar, backing vocals (3)
Josh Day – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2, 3)
Nathaniel Smith – cello, backing vocals (3)
Wendy Moten – backing vocals (4)
Production
John Oates – producer
David Kamulsky – producer, engineer, mixing, mastering
Ethan Barrett – assistant engineer
Cameron Henry – mastering
Welcome To 1979 (Nashville, Tennessee) – mastering location
Matthew Grace – cover artwork
David Abbot – photography
Jeff Fasano – photography
Sean Hagwell – photography
Chris Epting – liner notes
Sandbox Entertainment – management