When we hosted Colorado’s own Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats in 2015, we knew this white-hot band was no fluke. Rich in soul and stomping, brassy R&B-inflected rockers, Night Sweats music is propelled by Nathaniel’s raw, confessional songwriting and emotional, leave-it-all-on-the-stage singing. So dynamic is this band and so raucous its performances, that following Rateliff’s first appearance in 2015 on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, none other than Paul McCartney phoned Fallon in amazement, wondering, “Who was that guy?” Fallon has said the band has an invitation for life. Since then, the humble, hard-working Rateliffe, who left his hometown of Hermann, Missouri for Denver in 1998 with his best pal, Night Sweats bassist Joseph Pope III, has released not only a second, remarkable Night Sweats album, but solo work that, if possible, is even more gut-wrenchingly honest and introspective. He set the Denver music scene on fire with a vision he told Rolling Stone was, “writing as if The Band and Sam & Dave had a band together.” Despite the huge acclaim he and the band now know — including top-tier gigs such as opening for the Rolling Stones —they are remaining in Denver, rooted and at home. Tearing at the Seams is the latest Night Sweats record, while Nathaniel’s third solo effort, And It’s Still Alright, is a testament to surviving loss (his marriage and the death of Night Sweats’ record producer, Richard Swift) and retaining the strength to see beyond the pain. It’s hauntingly beautiful and he sings it with a world-weariness that wrenches the heart, even as the songs speak to hope and resilience. Beautiful stuff. As he told Rolling Stone about the message of And It’s Still Alright, “I think this album is a reminder that we all go through hardship, but regardless of the hardship everything ends up where it’s supposed to.”