Rising country artist Gareth is quickly carving out his place as one of Nashville’s most intriguing new voices. Hailing from Castlederg, Northern Ireland, he brings together the heart and grit of his Irish roots with the storytelling soul of American country music. After gaining traction online with heartfelt covers — including a viral take on Noah Kahan’s ‘Stick Season' — Gareth’s rich vocals and honest songwriting have earned him over 70 million streams, support from flagship playlists like New Boots and Today’s Country, and airplay on both SiriusXM’s The Highway and major UK radio. Now based in Nashville, he’s turning his online success into a global touring career, performing for packed crowds across the U.S., UK, and beyond.
With the release of his new EP ‘Bluebird' on October 24, 2025, Gareth opens a bold new chapter in his journey. Blending introspective storytelling with radio-ready polish, the seven-track project captures his ability to balance emotional depth and mass appeal. Currently on his debut U.S. headline tour, Gareth will return home to the UK and Ireland in December, where he’ll close out a breakthrough year with his first-ever hometown headline show in Castlederg — a full-circle moment for an artist proving that country music’s next big story might just start on the other side of the Atlantic. We caught up with him this week to talk all about it.
Thank you for talking to us today, Gareth, we know how busy you are in release week!
No worries, man, thanks for taking the time.
You've had such a great year this year, from the C2C shows in March, your own headline shows, EP releases and the Kip Moore tour. Has there been one thing that's stopped you in your tracks or blown your mind?
My own headline tour was amazing, singing at all these shows across Europe and the UK. To think about a year and half before this I was playing bars for 10 years to 5 people. We've sold out 750 capacity venues this year and hopefully will progress to 1000 cap next year – that's incredible, from posting covers online to dropping my own original songs now.
Getting to play some arenas with Kip in May and June was a big experience for me, learning from one of the best on the scene. I'm going to Australia next year and then there's obviously the big news about the Opry…………
Brett Young sends you the video and invites you to play the Opry on November 4th. What was your reaction to that and how long has it taken it sink in that it's a reality?
It hasn't sunk in yet! It's been eight days since I found out and it doesn't feel real yet! (laughing) I was in Nashville last Monday and my manager asked me to come over to the office with a fake backstory about needing to record a verse and chorus of ‘Quiet in this House' for Youtube. He handed me the phone after I'd done it and it was the video of Brett asking me to make my debut…. big shout out to Brett for doing that…. I had a feeling when he handed me the phone because I've seen a lot of these reaction videos of people being invited to the Opry but didn't really believe it was anything out of the ordinary.
It's been over a week now and it still doesn't feel real, even after we've played on November 4th I've got this feeling that it still won't feel real. Coming from such a small town in Ireland and being asked to play your Opry debut… it's something I can't get my head around.
Have you thought about what songs you'll play yet?
Yeah. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say what they are but one is going to be a new one from the new EP that comes out on Friday and then the other will be an older one that I released earlier in the year. I want to make the most of the two songs that we have and show everyone there some Irish influences. In my opinion, it's the biggest honour that you can have, in Country music, to play the Opry, all the biggest artists in the genre have played that circle.
Alongside that the new EP comes out on Friday too. Comparing ‘Bluebird' to your previous releases – how do you think you are growing and evolving as an artist?
The more and more I get used to writing songs, the better they are getting, I feel. Since the ‘Steal Your Thunder' EP I feel like I have nailed down my sound. These new songs are some of the best I have worked on and written and then the focus will shift towards a longer project next year which I hope will be my debut album.
I think the title track, ‘Bluebird,' might be my favourite song of yours.
I appreciate you saying that. It's what a lot of people have been telling me recently. I think it's my favourite song too. I wrote it back in January in Nashville and since the song got mixed and finished I've been playing it non-stop in my car because I love the feel of the song. I'm not big on listening to my own songs but I love listening to that one. Im buzzing for people to hear it on Friday.
It's such a cleverly written song. Who's the inspiration behind it? Who are you singing to in that song?
I wrote the song with Tommy Baxter, Gerard O'Connell, Katie Cecil and Chris Ganoudis. Two of my friends from London came over to Nashville and wrote with two of my Nashville friends so there was five of us on that track. It was based on a poem and then we turned it into a song about a girl. It's my favourite song right now and I kinda knew the first hour we were writing it that it was going to be a special one, it's very rare that that happens but it did with ‘Bluebird.'
Another personal one is ‘Shoulders I Stand On' which I see as the almost sequel to ‘Quiet in This House.'
Yeah – now that I've moved away from home I've had time to reflect on where I came from and the people who helped make me who I am. That song talks about that. I wouldn't be the man I am today if it wasn't for the small town I grew up in and the friends and family that surrounded me.
It feels like you think it's important to keep telling listeners this story about you because it is your lived-in truth. Have you got any more of these personal story songs tucked away up your sleeve for future releases?
We write so many song… I think we might have one more in that style for next year. I'm writing a lot more personal songs now and trying to find ones that we want to put out there in the world. As life goes on and more experiences happen to me I'm sure that will generate more ideas in the future which is the fun thing about writing songs! We're buzzing for the music to come, I can tell you.
The duet with Joss Stone, ‘Look What Your Love Has Done To Me,' shifts you a little in Pop/Blues territory which is a sound that sounds good on you. What was it like working with her on that track?
That song was written over in London last year and it originally wasn't written as a duet. The whole second verse was different to the one which you'll hear on Friday. Joss actually re-wrote the second verse to make it more personal to her. The original verse wasn't written for a female so I love what she did with it.
The track almost didn't get recorded. It sat for 9 months in our files and it wasn't until we were listening to older things we'd recorded that we re-discovered it again and had the idea to turn it into a duet. My manager came to me with some ideas for a partner on it and Joss was one of those, I'm a big fan of her and her voice, so we reached out to her and I'm so thrilled that she loved it as well. She had just had her new baby and she came to the studio with the baby and literally laid down the vocals to it in just 30 minutes, she's incredible. I think it's cool for Joss to meet my fans and work within the Country space and I'm looking forward to engaging with her fans outside of Country too.
We actually were up in Rockport, Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago to meet Joss whilst she was out on tour. I hopped up on stage and played that song with her for the first time live. We recorded the video to put up on Youtube too, so watch out for that on Friday!
Choosing a British artist reflects back on you and your authenticity in regards to the story you want to tell rather than just simply going for someone already working in Country music from America.
I think there is something really cool about having someone who is not in the Country space duetting on a Country song. Bringing two genres together is always a good thing if you find the right fit for your voice and it opens the door for future collaborations to do the same.
You're in Nashville and you go into a writers room with Josh Osborne, Zach Crowell and Jerry Flowers – all three very iconic writers, producers and musicians in their own way – and then you come out of the room with ‘Born Yesterday.' What did you bring to that write because I would have just sat quietly and been intimidated in the corner!
(laughing) That's one of my favourite writes that I've ever done. Zach's also become a very good friend of mine – we've got some more sessions working together with him in November too. It was the first time I had met Josh and Jerry, in that write. Jerry started playing this guitar thing and I loved it – those guys are just lyrical geniuses but I pride myself at being very good at melodies and that's what I brought to that write and that song, which is still one of my favourite songs I've ever recorded.
We like ‘Born Yesterday' so much that we've been opening our shows with it – it's a great opener with great energy.
You've always been very open and full of gratitude about the people, like Shay Mooney, that you've been able to get into rooms and write with. Have you written with anyone cool over the summer for future songs and projects or is that something that will be happening next?
Everyone that I've worked with has been so cool. I'm starting to understand that it's not necessarily about the name or reputation of the person that you write with that's important it's how well you work with particular individuals and what they can bring out of you.
There's a few big sessions coming up but over this summer I focused on finding songs with people I know and trust. The best one, potentially, came during a write with Rob Williford, who wrote a lot of songs for Luke Combs and was in his band too. (Check out our interview with Rob Williford from earlier in the year right here.) That song is in demo phase right now but I think it's going to be huge, my team is very excited about it so that will be something new coming down the line at some point.
I can imagine writers like getting in a room with you because you've always said you can't write about trucks, football games and tailgates because, coming from Northern Ireland, it wouldn't be authentic. Because of that, it means they can't rely on over-used tropes or easy get outs, which must be creatively attractive to them?
I think some people do find it interesting working with an Irish artist because that doesn't happen every day! They are so used to writing with American artists and other artists mainly from those southern states too. A lot of the songs they write follow the same structures and concepts but the appeal of me is that is not what I am about and they respect that, which then makes the session fun and fresh.
Are you getting some time off this Christmas after this whirlwind year? Nashville does do the Christmas break very well so will you be holidaying there or coming home to Northern Ireland?
I'll always come home for Christmas! I'm actually playing four shows there right before Christmas itself. My first show is on the 19th of December and then the last show of the year is a sold out show in my hometown! I'm also playing Ulster Hall in Belfast, which is such an iconic venue for me to get to do.
Christmas music is another tradition in Country music. Have you ever considered recording a Christmas song?
Yeah, it is something we've talked about. Not this year but it's a possibility for next year, for sure. We do have one more thing coming out this year, which I can't say much about yet, but I will say that the ‘Bluebird' EP isn't the last thing that is coming from me this year!
Check out Gareth's new EP ‘Bluebird' which is out TODAY in all the usual places. Our review can be found right here.
