The musician has decided to ‘seize’ the moment and make the most of the opportunities that have come his way
he British postman credited with instigating an online craze for sea shanties has quit his job to pursue a career in music.
Nathan Evans, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, was propelled to fame after posting his rendition of maritime ballad “The Wellerman” to video-sharing platform TikTok in December.
The i newsletter latest news and analysis
Mr Evans, 26, began sharing footage of himself performing sea shanties in July but it was his December video that earned him widespread attention.
Not only has he amassed more than 7.5 million views, the new poster boy for sailors’ working songs has attracted a celebrity fan base, with musical impressario Andrew Lloyd Webber even recording himself singing along.
Seizing the moment
Now the musician has decided to “seize” the moment and make the most of the opportunities that have come his way.
“It all started getting hectic,” Mr Evans said. “I was getting emails about interviews and radio, and it kept rolling on. [Last] Friday I was like, ‘Right, I need to make a change here’, because I was too busy on my phone looking at emails and trying to post letters. I was like, ‘This is not sustainable’.”
Future looks bright
Looking to the future, Mr Evans is feeling optimistic that he could carve out a career for himself in the music industry, though he has not ruled out returning to his old job.
“The future will be quite bright, I hope. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it’s never going to come around again,” the singer said. “Hopefully if nothing comes of it then I can go back and continue being a postman, but I thought at the minute I’ll seize it and see what happens.”
Collaboration dreams
Mr Evans said his dream would be to make an album, and added that “if somebody like Ed Sheeran joined in” on his TikTok shanties, “I think I’d probably collapse”.
While singing shanties has changed his life forever, Mr Evans is keen to continue performing on dry land rather than experience life on the open sea. “I get seasick so I don’t know if it’s for me, and I’ve not been on a boat or a ferry in god knows how long,” he said.
