After kickstarting the sea shanty phenomenon that has swept the globe in recent weeks, one of the most exciting breakout stars of 2021, Nathan Evans today releases his debut track “Wellerman” and “Wellerman 220Kid & Killen Ted Remix” via Universal. “Wellerman” is available to listen to [HERE] and “Wellerman 220Kid & Billen Ted Remix” is available to listen to [HERE], out now on all streaming platforms.
The genre is everywhere right now and it’s all down to Nathan that a new generation are discovering the thrills of fisherman-themed, multi-harmonised folk music. It all began when Nathan, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire in Scotland, decided to start uploading songs to TikTok after completing his morning duties as a postman. The first track he shared was a cover of Leave Her, Johnny, the traditional Irish shanty that dates back to the early part of the last century. But what happened next was off the scale, with the video racking up eye-popping numbers. Something about this music and Nathan’s charismatic delivery connected in a big, big way.
By the time Nathan uploaded a rendition of the New Zealand whaling ballad The Wellerman a few months later, he was at the centre of a new cultural movement whirling around sea shanties. To date, he has over 500,000 TikTok followers and The Wellerman has amassed an astonishing seven million views and more. Now, taking his music career full time, he follows in the chart dominating footsteps of those he has always admired including Dermot Kennedy and Lewis Capaldi as well as finding unlikely fans in Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gary Barlow and Ronan Keating who have also uploaded their own renditions of the song alongside the current 1.6 billion videos using the hashtag #seashanty on TikTok.
Lifting the spirits of those in the pandemic today Nathan says: “back in the day when the shanties were sung, it was to bring everybody together, to keep them all in time, to keep the morale high” and that’s exactly what he has done a century later.
