Nathan Evans first shot to fame back in 2021 when his cover of the famous Wellerman (Sea Shanty) song dropped.

The version took Airdrie-born Nathan from a man with 50,000 followers on TikTok to a star with over 1.7 million.

The 29-year-old said: “I absolutely did not expect to blow up like this.

“Whoever made the first comment asking me to sing Wellerman, I owe them something.”

Glasgow Times:

Among the TikTok and social media fame, Nathan has watched as his monthly followers on Spotify have skyrocketed to over five million.

Something, he admitted, was so far from his original end goal - in the best way possible. 

He explained: “I remember saying to my wife at the time if I can do this enough where I can go out on a Saturday in town and just show up at a pub every week and do a wee gig – that would be my end goal.

“And we sort of blasted past that and here we are - it’s absolutely mental.

“It’s really weird because at the time it is just such a whirlwind and it’s not till you look back and go I’ve done this and that.

“In 20 years’ time I’ll be looking back and thinking wow.”

Glasgow Times:

Nathan released his debut album Wellerman back in 2022 and has continued to release well-received singles such as Told You So and his new tune Heather On The Hill.

“All the feedback about the new single on socials has been incredible, it’s just blown me away,” Nathan said.

He continued: “Everyone that’s heard it so far has loved it and hopefully that carries on.

“Getting to test it in real life and get real-life reaction is what it’s all about.”

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The single was released at the start of January, ahead of Nathan's free performance at Princes Square last week. 

As he sat down with the Glasgow Times ahead of the show, it is safe to say that the star couldn’t contain his love for our glorious city.

The young dad said: “It’s so incredible to be performing in Glasgow.

“There’s no place like it, and the people of Glasgow and just Scotland in general are a different breed.

“It’s always good to be playing music here in the city.”

Glasgow Times:

But there was one question we were just dying to ask Nathan - why cover sea shanties? 

Giving a little laugh, he said: “I was doing covers and different songs on TikTok and I built up to like 50, 000 followers on the platform which was mental for me.

“I had started to take song requests and in June of 2022, someone asked if I could cover Leave Her Jonny which was a sea shanty.

“I hadn’t listened to sea shanties before. I knew Drunken Sailor but that’s only because everyone knows that one.

“Then, this person asked, and I gave it a listen and did a cover which became one of the most viewed videos at the time.

“I was like wow, there’s something here and people like it.

“After that, there was comment after comment of people going can you sing this sea shanty and this one – and Wellerman was one of them.

“I recorded that and uploaded it, and the rest is history as they say.”

You can listen to Nathan’s music on Spotify.

Check out our live video from Nathan's short set at Princes Square.