DENVER’S RATELIFF TO MAKE HIS “SNL” SOLO DEBUT
Nathaniel Rateliff won’t be the first Colorado-based musician to play “Saturday Night Live” when he takes the Studio 8H stage at 30 Rockefeller Plaza next month, but the appearance will arguably represent Denver’s strongest musical showing on the longrunning TV institution.
The timing is a promotional win for Denver singer-songwriter Rateliff, who wrote and performed the song “Redemption” for the new Justin Timberlake movie “Palmer.” That drama debuts on Apple TV on Friday, Jan. 29, handing Rateliff at least half of his two-song “SNL” setlist. Rateliff has championed and brought glory to the state’s music scene, which has been in ruin for nearly a year due to nationwide venue closures, by raising money and organizing his peers around social justice causes.
NBC also announced “Watchmen” breakout star and director Regina King as the Feb. 13 host, making King the 14th Black woman to host the show, according to Black Film and TV, following names such as Cicely Tyson (the first, in 1979), Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry and Issa Rae.
To be sure, Rateliff will be one of only a handful of Coloradans to grace “SNL” — including recently promoted cast member Bowen Yang, who grew up in Aurora.
The last Colorado musical guest to stare down the live-camera setup was The Lumineers, which debuted in a Jan. 19, 2013, episode hosted by Jennifer Lawrence. Other than that, none of the state’s recent, mainstream musical exports (One Republic, De Votch Ka, Tennis, Trev Rich, The Fray, etc.) have appeared on the show in the last two decades. There’s no record of even adopted Coloradans such as John Denver playing “SNL,” or bands with prominent Colorado ties, such as Earth, Wind & Fire. (Sorry, we’re not counting “SNL” vet Neil Young, even if he lives in Tellu--
ride these days.)
Rateliff, who found fame in the mid-2010s as leader of the neo-soul band The Night Sweats, had a busier 2020 than most furloughed musical acts, with a solo album (“And It’s Still Alright”), various political and artist-themed fundraising shows, and streamed performances. In mid-March 2020, he was forced to cancel a slew of tour dates — some of them sold-out solo sets for his new album, and some (with the Night Sweats) opening for Bob Dylan.
Instead of serenading hundreds of thousands from the road, Rateliff pivoted to a series of small, socially distanced concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre capped at 175 people in the fall of 2020. Throughout, he invested in his Marigold Project foundation and sang songs to celebrate Willie Nelson’s birthday and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s Senate campaign (both of which ended happily for their participants).
But like every other Colorado musician, he could not tour in a way that made economic sense; he could not play regular local shows (of any capacity); and he was forced to watch, often helplessly, as the creative and commercial infrastructure of a Denver music scene he helped build disintegrated during a global pandemic.
Along with acts such as The Lumineers, Rateliff’s profile brought attention and support to state-specific fundraising concerts, including for the Colorado Music Fund, with Dave Matthews. Between April 1 and July 31, 2020, Colorado’s statewide music industry lost 8,327 jobs and $344.6 million in sales revenue, a Denver Arts & Venues report estimated, representing 51% of total employment statewide and 24% of the state industry’s annual revenue.
Rateliff has played a number of high-profile shows over the years, from opening sets for The Rolling Stones to nearly every late-night talk show and festival in the English-speaking world. In September 2020, he told The Denver Post that a third Night Sweats album was in the works for 2021.