One thing that never goes away, even during these strange times, is music. I’ve been listening to the Band, Toots and the Maytals, and Bob Marley and the Wailers kind of nonstop as I do projects around the house. And I can’t ever get away from my love of Vince Guaraldi, Django Reinhardt, Dorothy Ashby, and C. W. Stoneking. Their music is both a pleasure to listen to and a part of my ongoing effort to understand melody, chord structure, and voicing. Link Wray, Jim Sullivan, and The Basement Tapes are in constant rotation—I just don’t seem to tire of them. I hope these songs make you tap your feet, smile, maybe even dance.
Nathaniel Rateliff is a singer and songwriter based in Denver