Their debut album, Desire and Dissolving Men, was released in 2007. He played in both bands for a time, but the Wheel eventually claimed his attention and his pensive, stark original songs came to the fore. With the assistance of friends - Pope included - he formed another band called the Wheel. Simultaneously, he began to write quieter, more introspective songs. He studied the recordings of the great R&B and country singers and began to carve out a persona and voice of his own. Though they played everything from classic rock covers to garage rock originals, Rateliff had begun to distinguish himself as a singer. During this period, they formed the band Born in the Flood. He built decks and later got work at a trucking company, where he stayed for ten years before eventually becoming a gardener and getting married.Īll the while, he and Pope were playing music. He left the organization and began working odd jobs. While in Denver, he began to question not only the rigors of religion, but the existence of God. He and bandmate Joseph Pope III left Missouri for Denver as part of Youth with a Mission, an evangelical organization. Rateliff left school at the age of 16 and began working in a plastics factory. The title song haunted him and gave rise to spiritual questions that would impact his life in significant ways. In his early teens, he listened exclusively to Christian rock but found a copy of John Lennon's Imagine album in his father's collection. He learned to play drums at age seven, and began to teach himself guitar at 13 he wrote his first songs a couple of years later. The church was an enormous influence on his childhood and early teenage years. Rateliff was born in rural Missouri, the son of ardent churchgoing parents. He and his band the Night Sweats are based in Denver, Colorado. Nathaniel Rateliff is a striking, emotive tenor vocalist and songwriter whose work runs the gamut from simple folk and Americana to roots rock & roll and vintage rhythm & blues.

Lyrics redemption nathaniel rateliff