Music: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

From folk singer to new soul sensation

Four years ago, Rateliff appeared on Jools Holland, accompanied by just an acoustic and a backing singer, performing one of his many strident folk numbers that he was developing a cult following for. Roll on four years, and Rateliff – a former missionary worker – has transformed himself into a high energy soul and r’n’b singer, backed up with a six-piece band that provides a tremendously powerful Stax meets Motown sound. His fortunes are quickly being transformed… “A lot more people like this” says Nathaniel over the line from Denver, his home town. “After touring a bunch as a singer songwriter – I love playing acoustic guitar, I was just tired of everyone else playing it – I had finished Falling Faster Than You Can Run (his 2013 album), I didn’t have a label (he ended up releasing it himself), which was discouraging… I had wanted to do a soul, r’n’b thing for a long time, so I tried to write some songs after a friend of mine had suggested it. It kind of happened, it felt like a natural development.”

The result of those new songs is the new album, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, a raw and powerful piece that includes many southern soul and Motown style stompers along with a few songs more in line with his previous work, albeit in keeping with the new direction.
As fate would have it, Stax was re-activated in 2004 via its parent company, Concord Records, whom Rateliff subsequently signed to: “I was with a label who I didn’t know were working with Stax, but I found out they owned the Stax imprint, and I was like, ‘I think you could put this record out through Stax, it would be pretty apt, a southern soul sound’. They did, and now Rateliff has joined a long list of legends, including Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Booker T & the M.G’s and Isaac Hayes, who have been on the label. “The first gig we did with the Night Sweats was a little over two years ago, at a venue here in Denver. Somebody asked me to do a show, and I agreed, so I scrambled to get together a band, and it worked out. I think we had only 30 minutes of material, but it was really exciting to play that music for the first time. Everyone was hollering, and I started doing dance moves, and people loved it. It was pretty hilarious.
Patterns, Friday 16 October, 7pm, £11