

I definitely feel like that gets the point across, but it's nice to do it this way. NR - Yes, I've been doing the personal acoustic side of it for a long time. But would you say that the religious heritage behind the Gospel roots of Soul gives you a perfect opportunity to be confessional? People don't instantly associate Soul with that type of songwriting. Normally in the mainstream consciousness, confessional means a singer/songwriter with an acoustic guitar.

It was kind of for fun and to do it in Denver, and I didn't want to come across as a blue-eyed Soul singer of course I am I guess, whatever that means.ĬM - A lot of people have pointed out that your lyrics are very confessional.

Then I continued to create that stuff at home and put together a band, which is now The Night Sweats. Well I take that back, the first two songs I recorded, 'Trying So Hard Not To Know' and 'Look It Here', I put out on a 45 on my own. So I really had no intention of putting out a Soul record. It just took me a while to figure that out, that's like two years ago when 'Falling Faster Than You Can Run' had just finished and I started to write these songs. I wanted to sing about the topics and the content that I had been, and try to convey that same emotion into the R n' B music that I like so much. But I started writing the Soul and R n' B out of discouragement, because it was something I wanted to do for a long time, I just hadn't figured out a way to do it in a way that I wanted to. Then of course we ended up doing another EP after that called 'Closer'. So I didn't know if anyone was going to hear it. The last album, 'Falling Faster Than You Can Run', I was really proud of, but then I didn't actually know whether it was going to come out on any label at all. Nathaniel Rateliff - I just decided that I wanted to do Soul and R 'n' B. Sporting his trademark hat and impressive beard, Rateliff is a warm and welcoming interviewee, who even after the allotted time kept chatting about his love of Dylan and The Band's The Basement Tapes.Ĭontactmusic - Congratulations, the last two months have seen great success for your new album and the single 'S.O.B.', but by my calculation this is your fourth record in the last eight years, or so. Fresh from sound-check, the 37-year-old was nursing a cup of hot lemon in the dressing room to ward off a throat infection. We caught up with Nathaniel ahead of his recent show in Brighton. But Rateliff is keen to remind people that his hit single 'S.O.B' isn't the whole story, in fact there's a whole back catalogue of material waiting to be discovered by the masses. Their debut album together has sparked international interest in Rateliff's superbly crafted Soul compositions. This was the first tour that we ended here and now it's the rule for a reason.Nathaniel Rateliff and his band The Night Sweats seem to have hit on a winning formula. The final night in Maquoketa, IA, site of Codfish Hollow, the energy and performances were doubled from the night before, with numerous sing-a-longs and guest appearances in sets. Definitely the best night of the tour thus far and it's evident in the recordings that the bands were on fire. We then traveled to what became our favorite new barn in Monticello, Ill., just outside of Champaign. We moved the show to the Walworth County Fairgrounds in Elkhorn, WI in the 11th hour and had a great night there - playing Whiffle ball on the grounds pre-show. From there we ran into a strange snag, with the venue we were supposed to be using in Wisconsin pulled out from beneath us the night before the show by local authorities who had previously granted us permission to but the show on. We started the tour in West Liberty, Iowa, on a pretty perfect late spring night and then moved on to the first tour show we ever did in a legitimate venue, the always great Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee.

It was filled with old friends and a couple of bands who had been buddies for a while as well.
#Nathaniel rateliff vail free
This was a very special collection of bands - Delta Spirit and Ra Ra Riot (who traded headlining spots all week), Nathaniel Rateliff, Free Energy and Pearly Gate Music - and the only Barnstormer tour that kept the same lineup every night of the tour.
