Celtic Connections
Nathaniel Rateliff, Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Keith Bruce
four stars
If the man from Missouri who was headlining is more likely to show you a good time, support act Louis Baker is the guy you could introduce to your mother. The clean cut young man from Wellington, New Zealand, sounds vocally uncannily similar to our own James Blake with his vibrato high tenor, but has evolved entirely independently in the Antipodes. His influences are clear nonetheless, specifically Jeff Buckley, with a a soul-boys familiarity with Bill Withers and Richie Havens in the mix as well. It is when he plays to these strengths that he is best, and an audacious cover of Prince's Purple Rain is clearly a popular crowd-pleaser, but the tune that saw him listed in NZ's top five singer-songwriters seems a less welcome excursion into James Blunt territory.
Nathaniel Rateliff is not exactly a prolific recording artist, his 2014 album, Falling Faster Than You Can Run, appearing fully four years after his debut In Memory of Loss, but he appears to have gathered a loyal following since I saw him at Great Western Road's Captain's Rest back then. He has also acquired a trio of excellent sidemen who add a sort of minimalist E Street Band vibe to his newer songs, which are rather rockier than the early work he still chooses to play solo in the middle of the set. The keyboard, bass and drum guys all provided crucial backing vocals and are part of the frontman's R'n'B side project NR & the Night Sweats, from whom an album is promised this year. With a new Nate EP, Closer, also showcased here and some tunes introduced as unavailable under any guise, Rateliff is surely shifting up a gear.
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