Nathaniel Rateliff and Gregory Alan Isakov Unveil New Duet 'Flowers'

Nathaniel Rateliff and longtime friend Gregory Alan Isakov have unveiled a new song, “Flowers." The pair will perform the duet on Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight, marking Isakov’s late-night television debut. The song lands in advance of Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats’ landmark headline show at Madison Square Garden on March 27, part of their milestone first-ever arena tour, with Isakov to support—tickets are available now here.

Rateliff and Isakov have known each other since the early days of their careers, rising through the local Denver-Boulder area music scene together. The pair initially crafted “Flowers” as a demo around Rateliff’s 2020 solo album And It’s Still Alright; however, the song remained unfinished for five years before the two revisited it recently.

Rateliff shares, “In the moment, because so much time had passed, it was hard to remember who had written what – our words becoming each other’s. Now, listening back, I remember lines Gregory offered and others I did, but it truly is a work of us together, as one.” 

Isakov reflects, “My longtime friend Nathaniel Rateliff brought some pieces of a song by the farm a little while back and we finished it and tracked it late that night. We ran around the studio tracking instruments and ideas thinking we might re-track it all later, but just loved how the first take came out. Hope you love it as much as we do.”

The track was mixed and mastered with help from Patrick Meese, Mark Anderson and David Wilton.

Around the band’s recent Los Angeles show at Kia Forum, Rateliff & The Night Sweats held an initiative to help raise wildfire recovery funds for the Los Angeles area alongside supporting acts Waxahatchee and Iron And Wine. The bands donated VIP passes, a meet and greet experience and a signed Gibson guitar to 3 winners, with proceeds from the fundraising efforts going to the Musicares Fire Relief Fund. Donations can still be made to the fund here.

In addition, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, in partnership with Greater Good Music and Dream Center LA, purchased a mobile food pantry for those who lost their homes to the Los Angeles fires—truckloads of food, water and pet supplies are available on the streets of the city, with those living in hotels and shelters able to drive or walk up to receive meals.

Greater Good Music partners with music artists to give mobile food pantries to people in disaster zones—recent partnerships include Ringo Star and Def Leppard for those affected by the Los Angeles fires and Green Day, who donated emergency food to those affected by the Maui fires. Greater Good is currently feeding 1,200 people in Los Angeles weekly.

The second leg of the band’s first arena tour also saw stops at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun, and a slew of performances in Canada, including at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, with two nights in Boston at MGM Music Hall at Fenway remaining. The first leg of the arena tour saw electric performances at Red Rocks, Chicago’s United Center, and St. Paul’s Excel Center. Pioneer Press praised Rateliff’s “twangy voice exploding out of guitars and keyboards and horns into roaring, soaring choruses”—see more critical acclaim for the tour and full routing below.

The tour caps off another highlight year for the band, which saw two #1s: “Heartless” and “Call Me (Whatever You Like)” from their critically acclaimed fourth full-length studio album, South of Here, both topped the Adult Alternative Chart, marking their 7th and 8th #1s to date. The album is out now via Stax—listen here. See the band perform “Heartless” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert here and an excerpt from their special on the Howard Stern Show here.

Additionally, Rateliff has been appointed as Newport Folk Steward, the first artist to hold such a role at the legendary festival since Pete Seeger. The position holds a three-year term, which will see Rateliff serving as Steward actively for two years and advising the next recipient during a third transition year. Rateliff has chosen to devote his term to artist advocacy, fellowship and mentorship both at the Fort and beyond.

SOUTH OF HERE TOUR—NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS

February 13—Vancouver, BC—Rogers Arena*
February 15—Seattle, WA—Climate Pledge Arena*
February 16—Portland, OR—Moda Center*
February 18—Reno, NV—Grand Sierra Resort ±
February 21—Los Angeles, CA—Kia Forum ± #
February 22—San Francisco, CA—Bill Graham Civic Auditorium ±
March 11—Edmonton, AB—Rogers Place~
March 13—Calgary, AB—Scotiabank Saddledome~
March 15—Winnipeg, MB—Canada Life Centre~
March 18—Fishers, IN—Fishers Event Center~
March 19—Pittsburgh, PA—Petersen Events Center~
March 21—Toronto, ON—Scotiabank Arena~
March 22—Ottawa, ON—Canadian Tire Centre~
March 23—Uncasville, CT—Mohegan Sun~
March 27—New York, NY—Madison Square Garden+
March 28—Boston, MA—MGM Music Hall at Fenway
March 29—Boston, MA—MGM Music Hall at Fenway

+with support from Gregory Alan Isakov

*with support from Charley Crockett

±with support from Iron & Wine

#with support from Waxahatchee

~with support from The Teskey Brothers

Photo credit: Devon Wycoff

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