INTERVI EW NATHAN CAR T ER
LIVE 24-SEVEN
14
Nathan, you're just back from America; many fail to crack to the States, but they love you! Would you chalk that up as one of your greatest achievements to date? Umm definitely; it was a new chapter for me. That’s the longest I’ve been away from home and being across the other side of the world being in America, it was a bit daunting, but the shows were great and I got some really positive feedback – we’re now going back to do some more in May. It’s such a big market and it takes such a long time to get around everywhere.
Daniel O'Donnell was instrumental in introducing you to the American market wasn’t he? Yes definitely, we were over there at the same time and he had me on some of his shows during the day and then we were gigging at night up the road from him – you know he helped me as much as he possibly could. He’s a gentleman, he’s had a lot of success over there with TV shows and performing at huge venues you know, he’s been a great help!
He’s a mentor as well as a friend then isn’t he? Yeah, definitely yes! He has become that sort of a character to me. To be honest he helped me out with a bit of the UK as well. If we’re on tour in the UK and he’s playing nearby the night before, he’ll be talking up our gig and trying to help us – bless him.
You're a successful crossover star; country music is so influential now across the globe, isn’t it? Country is huge; I don’t think it’s ever been as big. I think that’s mainly because it’s become very commercialised, very pop orientated, which has influenced the crossover appeal. I haven’t got to that stage where I sing the pop stuff, I’m more folky rather than country pop, which has probably held me back in some sort of way as you don’t get as much radio play as you do with some of the stuff that’s coming out of Nashville at the minute. But to be honest I like what I do and I’m pretty much content with the way I’m going, it’s organically built rather than
people following me because of being on TV. It’s a case of people coming to the gigs and enjoying it and they come back to the next and bring friends and family and social media has been a big help as well in getting my music known and out there.
You're hailed as Ireland's number one entertainer; did you ever think when you were gigging whilst at school that you'd have number one albums, tour America, break women's hearts all over the world and beat Drake and Beyoncé to the top of the charts in Ireland? [laughing] Definitely not, no! I remember when I was 17 going gigging around the pubs and clubs and I was pretty content with doing that, I always tried to get a bit more money and up my game and get a bit more success with better and bigger venues, but I never thought what has happened would – no! It’s come as a bit of a surprise, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, I really love what I do and I’m really lucky to be able to do it.
It wasn't until Bob Brolly introduced us when I was in Ireland filming that I knew you were born in Liverpool, because like many of us diaspora our connections to the Green Isle are very strong, but do you think that being born in Liverpool and being an Irish singer has meant you’ve had to work harder to be accepted? You know, when I left Liverpool I thought this was going to be really tricky because some people might think oh he’s coming from over there and he’s trying to take our crown, but I didn’t get any of that, well not to my face anyway, [laughing] I was really lucky in that a lot of people just really accepted me and I was welcomed with open arms. I think because I started out with a bit of success on the radio – my music was playing on daytime radio in Ireland all the time – it just became that I was one of them you know. I think coming from an Irish background as well, as my family are from Northern Ireland, I kind of used that to my strength as well, which has been a big help.
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