TikTok sea shanty star quits job as postman as single crashes Top 10

NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News

The man behind the current TikTok sea shanty craze has quit his job as a postman after his single crashed into the Top 10.

Nathan Evans, 26, helped bring exposure to the craze on the social media app with his version of ‘Wellerman’.

• Read more: Shiver me TikToks! The best barnacle-busting sea shanties

The track was a cover of The Longest Johns’ version of the 19th-century sea shanty ‘Soon May The Wellerman Come’. The Bristol band’s version also went viral on TikTok last year.

Evans has since released ‘Wellerman’ as an official single after signing a record deal with Polydor. A mid-week update from the Official Charts Company puts the track at Number Four in next week’s Official UK Singles Chart, behind tracks by Olivia Rodrigo, The Kid Laroi and Little Mix.

In a TikTok posted last week, Evans said he had quit his day job thanks to the social media trend. “Oh my God, I was a postman on Friday. I have just signed to the biggest record label in the world,” he said.

@nathanevanssThanks TO EVERYONE!!I can’t explain what’s happened this week!! Postman to Polydor! #viral #scottish #recorddeal #fyp #foryoupage #seashanty #shanty

♬ original sound – N A T H A N E V A N S S

Speaking to NBC News, he described his journey with the shanties as a “rollercoaster”. “Honestly, I didn’t know much about sea shanties until last year,” he said. “Now, you can call me a fan.”

He added that “you don’t really need to be able to sing” to take part in the sea shanty craze and that he was “speechless” when his single was released.

“Sea shanties were made to get people to join in, sing along, stamp their feet, clap their hands, keep the morale high,” he continued.

“I think that in these times when everybody’s stuck at home, they’re quite down, it’s not been the best of times, so I think kind of in a weird way it cheers everybody up. It makes everybody feel united.”

Last week, Glass Animals jumped on the TikTok trend, sharing an edit of their 2020 track ‘Heat Waves’ transformed into a sea shanty.

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