What’s On: Nathan Carter, the unstoppable musician on Scottish tour

Touring to sold-out venues around Scotland every few months, Nathan Carter says the country is now his best market outside of Ireland.

The Liverpudlian has long been a huge star in Ireland – the birthplace of his parents – but he has been quietly growing his market here, too. He recently played a fan club weekender in Glasgow, and is playing tours here this month, then in May and autumn.

“Outside of Ireland, Scotland is our biggest fanbase,” he said. “I was very lucky to go to Inverness recently and play four gigs in a row, the Glasgow Concert Hall usually sells out, as it does in Aberdeen, Stirling, Motherwell and so on. I’m always surprised at the uptake.

“I play country and folk, and I play the accordion. I’ve been playing the accordion since I was four – I think I’ve gradually got worse at it over the years but I’m still playing it! People associate me with that type of music in Scotland, and we love coming back and touring as much as we do.

“Most acts don’t tour as much as I do. I’ve got 110 gigs booked so far this year, which is a bit less than I normally do but I’ve tried to cut it back a bit. As long as the demand is there, I’ll keep coming back.

“My writing and recording is spread over about two weeks of the year, and the rest of it is touring and doing TV and radio. The travelling gets tough every now and again but there’s nothing better than being on stage.”

Carter has begun touring in America, another lucrative market for Irish-influenced musicians, and in England he is also playing many historic venues.

“The London Palladium, for example, is world famous and it’s had everyone from Elvis to Adele filming her last TV special there. We were in America for the second time at the end of last year and they loved the material. Hopefully we can do more there in the future.”

Nowhere is ever likely to support Carter as much as Ireland, where he has outsold international acts like Beyonce and One Direction.

“It’s been really cool in Ireland,” he continued. “One of the highlights of my career so far was being lucky enough to sell out the 3 Arena in Dublin for two nights, which is something I never thought would be possible.

“Another highlight was singing for Pope Francis at Croke Park. It was myself, Daniel O’Donnell, RIverdance and Andrea Bocelli performing to 70,000 people – a real pinch-me moment. I also had a TV show on RTE in Ireland, where I got the chance to sing with people like Mel C, Billy Ocean, Sharon Shannon and Finbar Furey. These are things I could never have imagined.”

Growing up in a music-loving family in Liverpool, Carter would go to gigs in the local Irish centre to watch all the bands coming through.

“In addition to that, my grandad was hugely into that type of music,” he said. “My friends didn’t know what I was up to, listening to Johnny Cash and a load of folk bands, but it was what I was brought up with in our house.”

Carter turns 33 this year and has been on the road since he was 17, so has been a professional musician for almost half his life. Success didn’t come easy for him, though, and he had to climb the ladder to get to where he is today.

“I played the pubs and then we did dances in Ireland for years, which are great fun, but when you have people actually paying to come in and sit and listen to the music, it makes it all the more worthwhile. I did a bit of work on the building site with my dad but that didn’t last too long because, thankfully, I got the gigs and haven’t looked back since.”

Nathan Carter, Albert Halls, Stirling, Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries, Whitehall Theatre, Dundee, Friday-Sunday