{"id":8823,"date":"2019-08-20T18:37:45","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T18:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=3609237&amp;preview_id=3609237"},"modified":"2019-08-20T18:37:45","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T18:37:45","slug":"nathaniel-rateliff-gets-into-the-weed-business-with-help-from-willie-nelson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/nathaniel-rateliff-gets-into-the-weed-business-with-help-from-willie-nelson\/","title":{"rendered":"Nathaniel Rateliff gets into the weed business \u2014 with help from Willie Nelson"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/nathaniel-rateliff-gets-into-the-weed-business-with-help-from-willie-nelson\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- END .ss-inline-share-wrapper --> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-131576\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/nathaniel-rateliff-gets-into-the-weed-business-with-help-from-willie-nelson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nathaniel Rateliff &amp; The Night Sweats play the Ogden Theatre on Dec. 16, 2016. (Michael McGrath, Special to The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Willie\u2019s Reserve, the Denver-based cannabis brand from singer-songwriter Willie Nelson, recently unveiled its first partnership with a Colorado musician.<\/p>\n<p>Soul-revival band Nathaniel Rateliff &amp; the Night Sweats has lent its name to a line of Willie\u2019s Reserve vape pens made with \u201ca high-quality strain of cannabis, known as Cherry AK.\u201d The 500-milligram distillate cartridges are available at eight LivWell shops in Denver, Garden City and Fort Collins, according to Willie\u2019s Reserve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Willie) met the guys at Farm Aid 2016, which was their first year playing that event, and that day was all a conversation about agriculture. And nothing has energized agriculture in America like the legalization of cannabis,\u201d said Elizabeth Hogan, a co-founder of GCH Inc., the company that owns and runs the Willie\u2019s Reserve and Willie\u2019s Remedy brands. \u201cEver since then, we\u2019ve talked about what it means, and they\u2019ve expressed interest along the way in doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Willie\u2019s Reserve was looking to partner with a band making an impact with both its music and its advocacy, Hogan said. Rateliff\u2019s act \u2014 which rose to national prominence in 2015 with the upbeat single \u201cS.O.B.\u201d \u2014 fit that bill, thanks in part to <a href=\"https:\/\/the-marigold-project.org\/about\/\">The Marigold Project<\/a>, a nonprofit Rateliff founded to work for social and economic justice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are such fans of what those guys are doing in the world,\u201d Hogan said. \u201cIt\u2019s impressive that this band on the big rise is taking the time and effort to have those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The timing of the Cherry AK cartridge debut is no accident, either. Having released a pair of studio albums and a live album from Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Rateliff and his band also <a href=\"https:\/\/theknow.denverpost.com\/2019\/08\/11\/photos-mick-jagger-rolling-stones-denver-concert\/221501\/\">opened for The Rolling Stones<\/a> at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on Aug. 10 and have an already sold-out\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nathanielrateliff.com\/tour\">two-night headlining stint at Red Rocks<\/a>\u00a0on Aug. 21 and 22. Harnessing the publicity surrounding those events helps not only potential Colorado sales but also sales in future markets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re excited to launch their project in Colorado because it\u2019s their home, but the intention is to bring this collection to other states,\u201d Hogan said.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado is currently the No. 1 market for Willie\u2019s Reserve products. S<span>ince launching in August 2016, more than 1.2 million Willie\u2019s Reserve Ready Roll joints have been sold here, and the brand is currently available in about 180 shops statewide, according to the company. Moreover, t<\/span><span>he volume of Willie\u2019s Reserve vape products sold in Colorado has grown 120 percent year-over-year, the company said, although it declined to share revenue numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur best-moving items are half-gram vape cartridges and eighths of packaged flower, but ready-rolls have been really, really popular, and we\u2019re bringing new edibles pretty soon,\u201d Hogan said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/B1PxoPLhZL4\/\" data-instgrm-version=\"12\">\n<div> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/B1PxoPLhZL4\/\" target=\"_blank\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<p> View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/B1PxoPLhZL4\/\" target=\"_blank\">Whats better than growing for @willienelsonofficial ?? = Well ~ growing for his friends too!!! @grogeo #redrocks #coloradoband #brands #marketing #cannabusiness #organicaf #honored #badassbands #backstage #sweats #smokethis #terpenes #kush #ineedahit #getsmoked #nightsweats #musicrules #growforbands #dabthis #livemusic #signmeup . . Repost-@williesreserveofficial We proudly present @nathanielrateliff &amp; The Night Sweats first hit from the Nightstache Collection. Grown in Boone, Colorado by @ajs_kush Craft Cannabis using energy-efficient practices, AJ\u2019s Cherry AK Distillate Cartridge is a full flower extract that preserves the rich, natural cherry flavor of the strain for a positive cerebral high that mellows the body and brings contentment to the mind. Launching exclusively at @livwellcannabis_ . . . . . . Stapleton \u2013 3955 Oneida St. Denver, CO 80207 Broadway \u2013 432 S Broadway Denver, CO 80209 Garden City \u2013 2647 8th Ave. Garden City, CO 80631 Larimer \u2013 2863 Larimer St. Denver, CO 80205 Evans \u2013 1941 W Evans Ave. Denver, CO 80223 Franklin \u2013 3980 Franklin St. Denver, CO 80205 Pearl \u2013 1660 Pearl St. Denver, CO 80203 Fort Collins \u2013 900 N College Ave. Fort Collins, CO 80524<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A post shared by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ajs_kush\/\" target=\"_blank\"> AJ&#8217;s Craft Cannabis ?<\/a> (@ajs_kush) on Aug 16, 2019 at 6:22pm PDT<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The growth plan extends to Willie\u2019s partnership with Rateliff &amp; the Night Sweats. Although Willie\u2019s Reserve currently sells products in six states, it\u2019s launching the Nightstache Collection (as it\u2019s called) in Colorado first so the band can connect with local farmers before adding more products. For example, the Cherry AK in Rateliff\u2019s vape pen is grown by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajsmj.com\/\">AJ\u2019s Craft Cannabis<\/a>, based in Boone, in Pueblo County.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-222130\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/nathaniel-rateliff-gets-into-the-weed-business-with-help-from-willie-nelson-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"855\" height=\"780\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Provided by Grasslands)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re launching with this half-gram vape cartridge because that product does really well in Colorado, and it meets the needs of a lot of different types of consumers,\u201d Hogan said. \u201cBut we anticipate following up with other Nightstache products like flower and ready-roll, and some strain selections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But will it sell? There\u2019s a lot of competition in the world of celebrity weed brands. As musically accomplished as Rateliff and his bandmates are, they\u2019re not exactly known as stoner heroes \u2014 here or anywhere else.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t worry about a stoner reputation being necessary for this project,\u201d Hogan said. \u201cAnd maybe the idea of being a stoner is being replaced by more interest and use of cannabis for how people are living. Working with Willie, we see all kinds of opportunities for translating a big cannabis reputation into a big cannabis brand. I mean, he started this conversation (about cannabis) years ago. But what we\u2019re seeing with younger\u00a0artists is not just about the substance, but about all the things it represents and the conversations they can have around it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/extras.denverpost.com\/newsletters\/\"><b><i>Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/nathaniel-rateliff-gets-into-the-weed-business-with-help-from-willie-nelson-2.jpg\" class=\"ss-hidden-pin-image\" data-pin-url=\"https:\/\/theknow.denverpost.com\/2019\/08\/20\/willie-nelson-nathaniel-rateliff-cannabis\/222056\/\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/nathaniel-rateliff-gets-into-the-weed-business-with-help-from-willie-nelson-2.jpg\" data-pin-description=\"Nathaniel Rateliff gets into the weed business \u2014 with help from Willie Nelson\" \/> <!-- END .ss-inline-share-wrapper --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Willie&#8217;s Reserve, the Denver-based cannabis brand from singer-songwriter Willie Nelson, unveiled its first partnership with a Colorado musician over the weekend. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[52,2435,77,5577,9,1495,8185,5019,1,3,7072,61,1736],"tags":[2632,2436,2655,5580,33,8186,5022,7073],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}