Young Nathan attracts three generations of fans

YOUNG singer Nathan Carter could be on the cusp of international success if he can replicate in the UK the type of phenomenal success that he has achieved in Ireland in recent times. Unlike other Country singers who attract a mainly older audience, this young man has also established a fan following that spans all ages. 'There are people at the gigs that are younger than myself, some 17 and 18 year-old as well as their parents and sometimes grandparents and it is great to see them all enjoying themselves,' says the singer who says they are doing both dances and concerts at present. On the recording front he was recently at Number Three in the UK Country albums chart with Wagon Wheel, just one place behind International Pop-Country act Lady Antebellum. While Wagon Wheel, a song written by Bob Dylan, became the most played Country song on Irish radio for six weeks earlier this year Nathan is quick to point out that this is only one milestone along the road to success for him. 'It has been a gradual build-up over the past few years ever since we did a live DVD of a concert in Cookstown about 18 months ago. We released that as well as a live CD of the soundtrack and suddenly everything seemed to move at a faster pace especially with much bigger crowds coming out to the gigs,' says Nathan. But the title track of his current album seems to have been the clinching career song to date for Nathan and he says that he got this Bob Dylan song by chance. 'A friend of mine had this song as a ring tone on his mobile phone and I just decided to record it and thankfully it has become a big success. 'We did a video for the song at Rossnowlagh Beach in Co Donegal on what must have been one of the coldest days that we could have picked. It was freezing but we had to pretend that the sung was shining. I couldn't believe how the song exploded on the scene for us and the video got over half a million hits on Youtube.' 'Other songs that helped us a lot along the way include My Lady From Glenfarne which is all about the â€ËœBallroom of Romance' in Co Leitrim and it got us a lot of attention on an earlier album,' says Nathan. But this young man was never exposed to the magic of the Irish ballrooms or marquee dances because he was born and raised long after the Irish dancehall days and nights had died and his place of birth was in Birkenhead in the UK. 'My father was from there but my mother came from Warrenpoint in Co Down and I played piano accordion and sang in some of the pubs around Birkenhead before moving to Ireland over three years ago,' says the singer who mixes Folk with Country and 60s Pop at his live shows. He is a big admirer of another Birkenhead artist, Charlie Landsborough, who also made it big in Ireland before emulating some of the success in the UK. 'Many years earlier Charlie played in some of the same pubs in Liverpool and Birkenhead that I ended up playing in before I moved to Ireland. 'When I first met Charlie four years ago I was very impressed because he is such a nice person and he is what you see, there are no pretentions with Charlie,' says Nathan. While Nathan is recording some songs written by his manager John Farry he is also an admirer of the songs of Charlie Landsborough and he even recorded a duet version of My Forever Friend on his last album. 'When I told him that I admired that song and another one that he had written, I Will Love You All My Life and that I would like to record them he said that was fine with him and if I wished we could do one of the songs as a duet and of course I took him up on that offer,' says Nathan. He admits that the last six months have been 'phenomenal' and he feels the mix of Folk, ballads as well as 60s Pop with the Country works well for him while he also credits the astute management of singer-songwriter John Farry who is also his manager. 'Songs that John has written for me such as One for the Road, which we play at every gig at the end of the night, blends in well with the better known material and people seem to like the mix â€â€ thankfully,' says Nathan with a smile. Next year his plans are for a series of concerts as well as the dances plus some tours of England and Scotland. Is there a plan to break into the UK Pop charts? 'Not at the moment as we are happy enough to be doing so well on the Country charts over there right now and while we have big plans for 2014 we will just see how thing progress first of all next year,' he replied modestly. No doubt Nathan hopes that his Wagon Wheel of success will keep gathering momentum for him both on the charts and on the live scene. â€â€ TG.