The Sea Shanty singer is singing his own song now

When Nathan Evans uploaded a cover of “The Wellman,” a whaling song with Shanty beat, he never thought it would touch and help him touch the small tide waves of the ocean.

Scottish singer Evans works as a postal worker and saves money by living with her aunt's aunt near Glasgow and her fiance. However, he had not given up on his music career. He was slowly building his audience by singing cover songs in Tiktok.

Soon, certainly, “Wellman” came.

Evans uploaded a badly peeled back version of whaling song to Tiktok in December 2020, when much of the world was closed. It quickly created a trend. There were duets and remixes, the cover of the sea hut, and even popular songs adapted to the Sishanti cadence collected under the hashtag #shantytok.

“Everyone needs pick-up and sea huts are great for that,” Evans said in a phone interview. “It's very inclusive. Everyone can participate.”

The sailors used to use sea huts to maintain time on merchant ships. In 2021, Evans' Shanti was used to help people spend their time sailing everywhere. Just like the old shed, it helped build trust and community.

He also led Evans, now 30, into the spotlight and focused on the music industry.

After his video became popular, he was working his postal route when he received a call from a number he didn't recognize. He was someone from the Universal Music Group. “I really thought one of my friends was calling a prank,” he said. “I was like, no, this wasn't going to happen.”

He then created a music video for “Wellerman.” It has been viewed 399 million times on YouTube. It led to festival performances and recognition from strangers on the streets of Glasgow.

“It's just amazing to hear so many people singing songs I uploaded to Tiktok,” he said.

He initially maintained the Sea Shanty theme and released a folk song album in 2022. He writes his own songs – a bit of pop, a dash of country and folk, many of which appeared on the album “1994.”

“Everything I have right now in the moment I rent a 'Wellman' and a sea hut,” he said. “It could have ended horribly.”

The folk-inspired songs he writes still have peeled vocals, harmonies and chorus. He's a song that people can “sing in the car.”

“We're not a million miles away from some sea huts,” he said. “I wanted people to hear what I really am.”

There have been more personal milestones since the “The Wellerman” video. Evans and his partner moved into his home for his success, he said. They got married and welcomed their son, Hunter in 2023.

His audience is now growing beyond the internet. Last month he appeared for a crowd of tens of thousands before a Six Nations Championship Rugby match at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. This month he filmed the song on his “1994” album in Europe.

“Being on stage is a happy place,” he said in a morning interview at a sold-out concert in Amsterdam.

“Looking back at it, why did you put me there know the 60-second Tiktok video?” he said. “That's crazy.”