Spring means warmer temperatures, baseball and the release of the Red Butte summer concert lineup. And when the schedule hit a few months back there was one show that stood out as THE must-see show of the summer — Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.
And that show is Tuesday.
It will be Rateliff’s first time back at Red Butte (he played The Depot in 2016) since he opened for Emmylou Harris in 2014, a year before the folkster on the verge of abandoning music teamed with The Night Sweats to release the breakthrough self-titled album that made the band a staple of the roots-rock revival.
This time through, Rateliff and friends are touring behind their 2018 release, “Tearing At The Seams,” a high-powered offering featuring blaring horns and what has become Rateliff’s trademark snarling soulful voice that, at its peak, has hints of Ray Charles on tracks like “Babe I Know.”
Rateliff still writes like a folk lyricist, turning poetic phrases and packing emotion into songs like “Hey Mama,” an homage to the sometimes turbulent and tension-filled relationships between mothers and sons (Rateliff’s mother raised him after his father died in a car accident when he was a child).
The seven men who make up The Night Sweats drive the music forward with a pulsating intensity of boot-stomping rhythms and horns.
On the debut album, Rateliff has said he did almost all of the heavy lifting, both musically and songwriting. This time it was a far more collaborative effort.
“I want — and I need — everybody to feel like they’re a part of this band. I want them to feel like they’re contributing artistically and emotionally to the experience of writing and creating this music,” he has said.
The pieces fit together into arguably a more complete sound — a sound that will be one of the highlights of this year’s Red Butte lineup. And if that’s not enough, Lucius, a female duo who teamed up with Rateliff on two tracks on the latest record, is opening, and they’re worth checking out.
Doors open at 6:30, music starts at 7:30. The concert is sold out but tickets may be available online.
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