Soon-To-Be Tour Buddies Nathaniel Rateliff & CW Stoneking Discuss Tour Bus Etiquette

On 19 September, 2016 our very own CW Stoneking supported Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and we all wished we were there. Then in early October they played House Of Blues in Houston, which is the last time the pair saw each other before our chat. Do they miss each other? They both laugh before Rateliff, addressing Stoneking, teases, "I've thought about you every day since we last saw each other."

When asked how he first became aware of Stoneking's music, Rateliff tells, "I had heard of his stuff through a friend and started to listen to it, and really enjoyed the record, and I just kinda reached out I think on Instagram, actually, of all places." Then Stoneking recalls, "I got an email from Nathaniel about — there was some gig, I can't remember which it was... and then I checked out his toons on YouTube, as you do, and then we met finally when we opened for Nathaniel in Nashville and, yeah! It was good — talked a bit of guitar shit." Did they have a jam as well? "Not jammin', just talkin' guitar nerd stuff," Stoneking laughs.

"Everyone's got their own little certain moves happenin' and Nathaniel's got some good footwork and, yeah! It's a good time."

Rateliff thinks it was the aforementioned Ryman Auditorium show that he reached out to Stoneking about. "I was like, 'Hey! Love your stuff and love to play a show with ya, and we actually have, you know, an opening here, so...' — yeah!" The Denver, Colorado-based tenor vocalist and songwriter admits that, when the pair share a stage, he tries to "get out there and watch [Stoneking] play and do his thing". "Because I think he's a fabulous musician," Rateliff adds. "Aside from being a good guy..." Does he have any particular favourite Stoneking songs? "On A Desert Isle is a great song and I'm The Jungle Man too, so..."  

Now it's the other half of this mutual admiration society's turn to share his favourite songs (by Rateliff and co). "I don't actually know what any of them is called," he confesses. "I really just like watching the band, actually; it's just, like, a lotta good energy on the stage. Everyone's got their own little certain moves happenin' and Nathaniel's got some good footwork and, yeah! It's a good time." On his band, Rateliff points out, "Everybody really loves each other and we're a family, you know? Not just the band, but everybody that travels with us and the crew, and everybody. And I think that's the most important thing to bands, is to continue to have that family experience, you know? You're making music — which is kind of what our life's made up of — and the songs are about our lives as well."

During long stints of touring, Rateliff says his band like to "change stuff around and come up with new covers" to keep things fresh. When asked to share some of the covers Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats have incorporated into their sets of late, the frontman ruminates, "Um, let's see. We were doing Having A Party for a while, we were doin' a Van Morrison song for a while — and I can't remember which one it was — and then we were doin' The Band's Ophelia for a little bit there, so... And then we usually do The Shape I'm In, which is another song by The Band, but written by Richard Manuel."

"I generally, for the past year or so, mostly listen to like Kanye West's rekkid; that's sort of my favourite thing to listen to for the past year or so."

Last time Rateliff and co shook up our shores was in 2016 for Bluesfest. "It was like a vacation for me. It was fantastic," he enthuses. "So it was beautiful and the people were kind and, yeah! I'm a big fan of plants, so there's lots of plants there I had never seen before; so it was cool." We're curious to hear more about Rateliff's botanical fascination. "I used to be a gardener, so..." he informs. "I just enjoy the vegetation and different wildlife too, so..." He often finishes his sentences by trailing off with an extended, "So...". 

This pair are yet to share a tour bus, but Stoneking provides us with some insight into how he rolls while on tour. Does his band usually travel by tour bus in the States? "To call it a bus would be overstatin' things," Stoneking jests, which sends Rateliff off into a laughing fit. Stoneking continues, "It's a similar shape, but the dimensions is less. But, um, you know, we get 'round in one of those vans, which is the thing that you do and we sure covered some frickin' ground, that's for sure; plenty of driving this year, but anyway. They don't have beds or stuff like that, you know, you've gotta sit upright or lean on the person next to ya," he laughs.

But Stoneking advises hogging the tour-bus stereo is a no-no. "I don't play [my music] on the bus," he stresses when asked about his preferred tour-bus soundtrack. "I feel like that's not really a thing to do: to inflict your shit on the rest of the band. Everybody's usually ridin' with headphones on, you know?" Rateliff cracks up again as Stoneking elaborates: "My sax player will probably be listenin' to, like, freakin George Clinton Parliament or somethin', someone up the back has got '50s rock'n'roll [on] — I generally, for the past year or so, mostly listen to like Kanye West's rekkid; that's sort of my favourite thing to listen to for the past year or so."

On how he discovered and assembled his US backing band comprising Paula 'Moist' Henderson on baritone saxophone, Kendra Kilkuskie on drums and Jessica Lee Wilke on bass, Stoneking reveals, "I tracked 'em down through various places, and found a couple through Instagram and one through some recommendations." Any particular highlights from this US tour? "Oh, wow! Oh, dear, it's hard to say off the top of my head," he ponders. "It was just one sorta continual stream of awesomeness... The shows were good: a few quiet ones here and there and a few sold-out ones — it was a mixed bag."

So how does Stoneking stretch out after long stints of driving in these cramped quarters? "I don't," he chuckles. No yoga, then? "No, I'm not into that sort of stuff; I'm too rigid, you know? I just keep on goin'." What about Rateliff, does he exercise to make sure he's show fit? "Oh, I haven't been in good shape for years, so, haha. I like to swim when I can and I try to do yoga here and there, but, you know, yeah! I like to just try to move around, or what I was doing in Europe recently was: I just walk every day, you know? Go for long walks and see the city, and I really like gothic architecture so I look at old churches and cathedrals and stuff."

Post-show, Rateliff says he likes to "take a shower and drink, usually". So how about Stoneking? "I've got no activities like drinkin' anymore," he laments. "I had to stop that years ago so I just eat, yeah [laughs]." Last time we interviewed Stoneking he was smoking a pipe. Does he still indulge? "Well, nah, I gave that up too, because I got some real good smellin' perfume and I just wanted to be fresh," he chuckles.