John Oates, courtesy.

“It’s been a while since I played there,” John Oates recently said about performing in California, either on his own or as half of Hall & Oates, the mega popular rock-soul-R&B duo with Darryl Hall. That will soon change, as he and percussionist John Michel are set to bring their diverse repertoire to Livermore and Napa.

Together with a show in Santa Barbara, it’s the extent of his West Coast run for now.

Oates said small clusters of dates will be the norm now.

“The old paradigm of going on tour is out; I just do shows,” Oates said in from his home in Colorado. At the time, he was fresh off a performance at the Aspen Film Festival (“I’m a film buff, in the name of community and culture,” he said), and had also just done an acoustic show in Telluride.

Also changing, he said, is the way he releases music. He has a few new singles out now, including “Disconnected.” When asked whether an album will follow anytime soon, he said singles are a more relevant medium these days. His latest is a cover of Timmy Thomas’ 1970 anti-war song “Why Can’t We Live Together,” which he released last month.

“I don’t know what [“album”] means anymore. … I think the world has moved on,” Oates said. “I’m not sure the world has the time to delve into the long form anymore.”

In a way, he said, the recent popularity of singles, especially as available online, represents a full-circle progression.

“The early rock ‘n’ rollers were all about the singles,” said Oates, adding that there will be more from him throughout this year, in various musical styles.

Had it dropped 20 years ago, “Disconnected” could have been a lighter, dreamier Hall & Oates song, R&B with a light, ethereal musical feel, with lyrics ruminating on a love that deteriorated. In a way, the music sounds like a love drifting away, slowly, into the ether:

“Now you were everything, you were heaven sent/ Now time turned bliss to discontent/ Love full of life turned to half alive/ Infatuation can hypnotize,” he sings.

The idea for that song, Oates said, had been kicking around for a decade or so, but with the pandemic, it took on new meaning.

“During COVID, I started revisiting old ideas,” he said. “All of a sudden, it became real and had a context. We were all disconnected.”

Oates, now 74, acknowledges that not playing with a full band lowers the “kick-ass quotient,” but that it gives him freedom to play “basically anything I want” at any time.

And the stylistic palette from which he draws is highly eclectic. His seven solo albums touch on classic R&B, blues, modern pop-rock, folk, soul and shades in-between. He cited Doc Watson  – an Americana icon before that term came into being – and country blues legend Mississippi John Hurt as sources he’s up for tapping at any time. He has even given a few old Hall & Oates songs, notably “You Make My Dreams Come True,” significant reworkings.

Oates, though, said he’s clearly pursued his own directions since 2002, when he released his first solo album, Phunk Shui. He said he’s comfortable with his history, though he bristles at the idea of simply being half of Daryl Hall and John Oates.

“I acknowledge my past, but I don’t lean on it,” he said. Early on, getting people to see him as a musician on his own merit was difficult. “But people have really changed. People accept what I do now.”

And as for the upcoming California dates, Oates said there may be a surprise or two in store.

“I have a whole backlog of really interesting music,” he said.

Follow journalist Sam Richards at Twitter.com/samrichardsWC.