![]() Then we also worked with Native Americans, and that was my turning point. A lot of them are just down on their luck, but they never get treated like humans-like people. “I liked the idea of meeting people where they are. “At first, we worked with a lot of homeless people, which I loved, but I didn’t like doing it under the guise of trying to minister to people,” Rateliff says. When he was 18 years old, Rateliff and his longtime friend, collaborator and future Night Sweats bassist Joseph Pope III followed another friend out to Denver from their hometown of Hermann, Mo., to participate in a part self-help, part missionary organization that had Rateliff and others working with underserved populations in Colorado. Removed from the rigid house of worship that colored his early years, Rateliff can now see the similarities between that world and the one he currently inhabits-he likens the impressive communal spirit and collective passion of a massive gathering at a packed megachurch to a frenzied audience at a concert-yet he also freely discusses the moment when he knew it was time for him to separate himself from that community. “I would sing with my head out the window of the car all fucking day, but singing in front of people was never what I thought about doing,” he says. His participation in the family band was mostly as a drummer, but he was later forced (against his wishes) to lend vocals as well. Rateliff doesn’t necessarily look like the guy you’d see dressed in his Sunday best at church over the weekend-though his live performances with The Night Sweats do gravitate toward the unmistakable soul-saving buzz of a gospel revival-but his religious upbringing helped set him on his long and winding musical path. It was a window into all the stories my dad told me about himself growing up-stories that I wasn’t gonna get to hear anymore.” “It was a mixture, and that was my way of getting into the ‘60s-era hippie stuff. I felt like that was a part of him-a lot of it was ‘60s and ‘70s Americana, rock-and-roll, soul and even some early Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy and that stuff,” Rateliff says. “I was left with his things, and I started to rummage through his record collection. (“The most ridiculous things ever sung,” Rateliff admits.) And his father’s influence continued to guide him. Following the tragedy, he picked up a guitar, learned some chords from his mother and made his first forays into songwriting. When Rateliff was just 13, his father died in a car accident. “But my dad always snuck stuff in because he was a hippie at heart.” “When I was really young, we didn’t listen to secular music that much,” he continues, looking back on a religious upbringing that included playing in his family’s traveling gospel band. Donning an unbuttoned, Hawaiian-style shirt and an American Agriculture Movement farmer’s cap that pair well with his thick beard and numerous forearm tattoos, Rateliff cuts the striking figure of a man who is unshakably comfortable in his own skin. Rateliff, frontman of the Denver-based, classic R&B-influenced outfit The Night Sweats, is lounging backstage at Queens’ classic Forest Hills Stadium, having just taken a pre-show dip in the tennis-arena-cum-music-venue’s pool. “With everybody clapping like the scene from The Blues Brothers where James Brown is the preacher. “It wasn’t cool like Southern Baptists,” Nathaniel Rateliff says with a grin, describing his early years growing up in rural Missouri. If you any have tips or corrections, please send them our way.This article appears as the cover story in the October/November 2018 issue of Relix. If there is any information missing, we will be updating this page soon. We’re currently in process of confirming all details such as Nathaniel Rateliff’s height, weight, and other stats. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground. ![]() The world’s population was 4,304,377,112 and there were an estimated year babies born throughout the world in 1978, Jimmy Carter (Democratic) was the president of the United States, and the number one song on Billboard 100 was "Kiss You All Over" by Exile.ġ571 – Battle of Lepanto: Holy League of southern European nations destroy Ottoman fleet in significant loss off Western Greece.ġ737 – A cyclone causes 40 foot waves that are believed to have killed 300,000 in Calcutta, India.ġ763 – George III of Great Britain issues Proclamation of 1763, closing lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlement.ġ919 – KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, established (oldest existing airline).Ģ001 – The U.S. ![]()
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