What made its success harder to swallow was that, in Rateliff’s own estimation, “S.O.B.” isn’t a great song. “But that’s also not my responsibility as a performer.” “It was hard because, sometimes, it felt like, man, people just don’t get what I’m talking about,” Rateliff said. Set to a punchy rhythm, that traumatic experience became a hugely popular drinking anthem. The song was inspired by Rateliff’s bout with delirium tremens - a potentially fatal symptom of alcohol withdrawal that’s accompanied by shaking, hallucinations and, yes, sweating. The reaction was a cruel twist of entertainment-industry fate. The band often saved the song as a nightcap for its shows the chorus - “Son of a bitch, give me a drink” - would dependably incite a mess of dancing and flung beers. The stress of touring the band’s debut album exacted its toll, he said, as did the Night Sweats’ rowdy single “S.O.B.” Days before the band’s debut album was released, it played the song on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” a turning point for the band that catapulted it onto the Billboard charts. In fact, at one point, the album wasn’t going to happen at all. “Tearing at the Seams” wasn’t an exception. Sophomore albums are tricky, especially ones that follow an Recording Industry Association of America Gold Record-certified debut. “It’s all over the place,” Rateliff concedes. There’s plenty for his legions of Night Sweats fans on the new album, but the melancholic swells Rateliff commanded in past projects like The Wheel and Born in the Flood are there, too. Spiking the band’s rug-burning Sam & Dave routine with big folk ballads and Americana rock, it’s as much of a bawler as a brawler, toasting to the good times one moment and imagining setting “the whole thing on fire” the next. On March 9, Rateliff and company will release “Tearing at the Seams,” its sophomore effort. “I don’t really have any time for myself or a personal life,” Rateliff said, a trucker hat clamped down over his unkempt tuft of hair. Our conversation, 30 short minutes in a well-appointed office at 7S Management’s headquarters in Denver, came amid a stretch of promo appearances that’s had him doing up to 12 interviews a day for outlets around the world. But when you sign up to party on TV with giant CGI hamsters, those days are necessarily over. It wasn’t long ago that you could catch Rateliff for a curbside interview on any given day on South Broadway. Since the Denver-based singer-songwriter started performing with his spirited soul band, The Night Sweats, he and the band have played some 350 concerts with another 59 already on the books for 2018 - an aggressive clip for any outfit. Nathaniel Rateliff’s time is no longer his own. Tuesday, May 16th 2023 Home Page Close Menu
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