Nathaniel David Rateliff (born October 7, 1978) is an American singer and songwriter based in Denver, whose influences are described as folk, Americana and vintage rhythm & blues. Rateliff has garnered attention with Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, the soulful R&B combo he formed in 2013. He has also released two solo albums and one album under the name Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel. Rateliff was born in St. Louis, MO on October 7, 1978. He grew up in rural Missouri, learning to play the drums at age seven and joining his family's Gospel Band. When Rateliff was 13, his father was killed in a car crash. As a result he taught himself guitar and began writing his own songs. At eighteen, Rateliff moved to Denver for missionary work. After his internal struggles with life in the Church, he left the group and moved home back to Hermann for work in a plastic factory. A few months later he returned to Denver and started work first as a carpenter, then at a trucking depot where he remained (at first in the yard, and then on the dock) for 10 years before becoming a gardener.