Daryl Hall’s House Hits The Road (Cover Story)

Philadelphia soul man Daryl Hall has morphed from ‘80s pop hitmaker with Hall & Oates to innovative content creator with “Live From Daryl’s House” – a genial living room jam with a global audience that was ahead of its time when Hall conceived the idea in 2007.

“To say I was ahead of the curve, there wasn’t a curve,” laughs Hall. “I just had this idea; I’d been playing live in front of people all over the world, why don’t I just bring the world to me? It was as simple as that. That stupid idea was sort of, I guess, a brilliant idea.”

The groundbreaking series provided stage-right access to legends, rising stars and Hall’s cadre of professional pals with behind the curtain banter and improvisation between musicians who perform spectacularly without guardrails.

Airing on Hall’s YouTube channel, “Live From Daryl’s House” has welcomed its own music hall of fame from rockers Joe Walsh, Cheap Trick, Todd Rundgren, Sammy Hagar, Tommy Shaw, Kenny Loggins, Nick Lowe and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top to soul and R&B artists Smokey Robinson, The O’Jays, Aaron Neville, Aloe Blacc, Kandace Springs, Elle King, Wyclef Jean, Cee Lo Green, Booker T & The MGs and Sharon Jones; to singer/songwriters Ben Folds, Rob Thomas, Jason Mraz, Gavin DeGraw, Goo Goo Dolls’ John Rzeznik and Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump; and up and comers at the time Fitz & The Tantrums, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Neon Trees, Johnnyswim, Parachute, Glenn Tillbrook and Anderson East.

“From the start, we had no audience,” explains the endearing 78-year-old host with an enviable plume of platinum blond hair. “Nobody’s going to do their act. We were just going to have some fun. And anybody that tries to do their act is going to be laughed down, a little bit. Tell crazy stories, drink booze and eat great food. It was as simple as that.”

Originally recorded at his home in upstate New York, the free webcast set a high bar for artist-initiated projects. Bare to the bone at the start, Hall and longtime manager Jonathan Wolfson of Wolfson Entertainment Inc. worked their respective personal directories for guests.

“When Daryl started, he had the germ of the idea, ‘Hey, I want to put a camera on myself and put it on the internet.’ That was literally the conversation,” recalls Wolfson. “The two of us formed a bond with that show and I’ve been booking and producing Daryl’s House with him since the inception in 2007.”

“Every genre of music has been explored,” adds Hall. “I think that keeps it fresh. And there’s no rehearsal. I’ve said that many times, but people don’t understand that there is no rehearsal. Everybody does their own work at home, and then we get together and the guest comes and we play the damn songs and that’s how it works.”

The latest episode (No. 91), featuring Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart, was a careening free ride with the pair performing career hits and songs from Hall’s sixth solo album, D, which came out on Virgin Records in June 2024.

“Daryl and I go way back,” states Stewart about the performance, filmed at Daryl’s House, Hall’s restaurant/music venue in Pawling, NY, which opened in 2014. “Since we first worked together, our friendship has lasted 40 years and writing songs together comes very naturally. Playing our new songs on ‘Live From Daryl’s House’ was great fun, as it always has been.”

The record is Hall’s first solo project in 13 years. Stewart served as co-producer and co-writer on seven of the nine original songs with Hall penning the other two. Recorded at Bay Street Records in the Bahamas, it was a welcome creative return for the pair. Stewart produced Hall’s second solo release Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine in 1986.

“I had a couple false starts,” admits Hall of the delay releasing an album. “Then I decided to go down to the Bahamas where Dave has a house and we decided to make a record… There’s something about my relationship with Dave that just comes across. We have a telepathic and true creative relationship and we’re really close friends and that allows us to make music; we’re great writing and production partners.”

Turns out D was the record Hall had been trying to make all along.

“I think Dave brought out of me what I wanted to actually say, what I was trying to say on the other two false starts,” says Hall. “He got me to focus on the mood I was trying to create and the things I wanted to talk about. If you listen to the album, it really does follow a path.”

Hall’s upward music trail began in 1967 in Philadelphia when he met John Oates at Temple University where they connected to the “Philadelphia Sound,” which fused R&B , soul and rock. The pair would form the duo Hall & Oates and were signed by the legendary Ahmet Ertegun to Atlantic records in 1972. By 1976, they found mainstream pop success with “She’s Gone” followed by a string of classic No. 1 hits co-penned by Hall including “Rich Girl,” “Kiss on My List,” “Private Eyes,” “Maneater,” “Out of Touch” and “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).”

MTV exposure made them global stars and by the mid ‘80s, they were the best-selling music duo in history. In 2014, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but like many long-term creative partnerships, business and personal differences caught up with them later in life.

Between 1981 and 1998 and from 2000 to 2022 Daryl Hall & John Oates sold 3,496,275 tickets over the course of 677 shows with a gross of $131,091,569 according to Pollstar data. As a solo act with most shows post 2022, Hall has sold 87,838 tickets over 41 shows with a gross of $7,733,857 according to Pollstar.

“I’ve seen him perform in a variety of venues, from opening The Fillmore in Philadelphia to playing various rooms in Atlantic City, headlining/co-creating HoagieNation at local Philadelphia venues and even selling out Madison Square Garden in New York,” says Geoffrey Gordon, Chairman, Live Nation Northeast. “He has an impressive ability to adapt to any setting. While his sweet spot may be the theater, where he can connect with his audience on a more intimate level, he also delivers an equally incredible experience in larger arenas and amphitheaters.”

“Live From Dary’s House” is the foundation of his current tour with LFDH alum Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze. The pair wrapped the UK leg in May followed by a stateside run that ends tonight at Ovation Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The upcoming fall leg includes Grand Sierra Theatre, Reno, NV (Oct. 19), Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA (Oct. 22), Blue Note Summer Sessions, Napa, CA (Oct. 24), Venetian Theatre at the Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, NV (Oct. 26), YouTube Theater, Inglewood, CA (Oct. 28), Pechanga Theater at Pechanga Resort Casino, Temecula, CA (Oct. 30), Fantasy springs Resort & Casino, Indio, CA (Nov. 1) and Paramount Theatre, Denver, CO (Nov. 4). Hall’s global agent is Pete Pappalardo at International Artist Group.

“I like to do tours in short bursts,” admits Hall, who deftly moves from guitar to piano and keyboard in concert. “I don’t go out on the road the way I used to. I used to go out and play a lot of shows in a row…I’m only doing eight shows, nine shows and then I take a break and then I do more shows. It’s a better pace for me. It allows me to live life.”

“He’s done the long, extended tours. He’s had a lifetime of that,” says Wolfson. “He really would rather have more of a work/life balance and be home more than not…On the flip side of that, he doesn’t want to go too long without touring. You want a healthy balance where he’s consistently touring but having time between.”

Hall’s previous tours included tourmates Howard Jones, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren. The format is the same with Tilbrook performing a solo set in front of the house band to open, then joining Hall on-stage to close the show.

“What I’m doing with Glenn is what I’ve been doing with other artists,” explains Hall. “It’s an adaptation of ‘Live From Daryl’s House.’ It’s the essence of that, without being a copy of that. It’s an interaction with the guest – whoever that happens to be. It’s an amiable thing – and it’s what I like to do.”

“He’s thoroughly enjoying this type of show in these types of theaters because it’s an extension of what he’s been doing for seventeen-and-a-half years with ‘Live From Daryl’s House,’” adds Wolfson. “He engages with the audience and it’s a more intimate setting…It’s an artistic thing and a natural extension of Daryl’s House.”

The Daryl’s House Band is up to the task of backing two artists a night. The musicianship is obvious, but equally impressive is the amount of stamina required from drummer Brian Dunne, musical director and guitarist Shane Theriot, percussionist Porter Carroll Jr., keyboardist Greg Mayo, bass player Klyde Jones and multi-instrumentalist Charles DeChant, an original Hall & Oates band player since 1975.

“Daryl is the consummate professional,” says Gordon. “He stays connected to his roots while keeping a pulse on both his past catalog and contemporary trends. His genuine passion for music shines through in his remarkable ability to create songs that resonate with his audience. This passion is evident in his work with Daryl’s House, where he frequently showcases emerging talent and helps artists reconnect with their fans.”

Hall effortlessly walks the line between the scope and creative depth behind his solo career balanced with worldwide acclaim as a top-selling duo. On stage he provides context and imbues each song with an appropriate level of emotional weight that is believable and drawn from experience.

Hosting “Live From Daryl’s House” has challenged him as an artist and changed him as a performer.

“It’s loosened me up incredibly compared to other times in my life,” he says. “I’m so comfortable now because I’m doing all this stuff and I’m so used to the spontaneity of it – anything can go wrong and it doesn’t matter. I think my performance and my whole style on stage has changed because of that.”