Castlederg singer's rise to fame after gaining 200 million views on social media

A CASTLEDERG musician's career hit the right note after performing on stage with American Country star Brett Young at his concert in Belfast.

Twenty-four-year-old Gareth Hamilton joined the musician on stage at his May 25 concert performing 'Stick Season' to an enthusiastic audience.

"It was nerve-wracking but it went really well," said Gareth.

Having grown up in Castlederg, attending both the local primary and high schools in the town, Gareth described his childhood experience as somewhat quiet, however his life is anything but that now!

Music has always been Gareth's passion since he was just eight-years-old, heavily supported by his parents Paul and Rhonda Hamilton and his siblings.

Speaking to Gareth, he reflected on his past when asking how his parents felt about him pursing his dreams.

He said: "They can't really get their heads around it and they are proud. Whenever I first started out singing, they were backing me from the start. There was never "we want you to do this instead and go find a real job".

"Music was my main focus and they always supported it."

His love for music began on family roadtrips when listening to various CDs in the car.

A turning point came when he was in P5 in primary school and entered in a talent competition for fun and won, performing a song chosen by his mother Rhonda.

This victory led to not only his parents discovering his singing ability, but also Gareth.

Over the years, Gareth explained how he explored different genres of music, but found his niche in country music at age 14 when he started listening to American singers.

He initially started posting covers of 2000s hits like The Fray on TikTok, but as his audience grew, he transitioned into country music. Influenced by artists like Luke Combs and Cody Johnson, he aims to create his own original songs.

He first started posting on TikTok in 2021 and the very first video he got 300 likes, which Gareth added that it might not seem like much to him now, but back then for his first video he described it as "crazy" as he was posting to 0 followers.

"My first ever video that got over 100,000 views within the first month-and-a-half of posting and I couldn't believe it. I got to a point where I just kept posting and my biggest ever video that year was 'How to Save a Life' by The Fray and it got 1.7 million views the same year I started TikTok."

For his biggest achievement to date, he shared how he posted a video of him in his back garden singing while his brother recorded.

On instagram the video got 18 million views and 700,000 likes. He explained how this got him 200,000 followers on instagram alone and on TikTok it got him 6 million views.

"Since January this year, we got over 200 million views all together," Gareth stated.

Starting his social media presence in January of this year, the Derg man quickly gained attention, gaining over 200,000 followers on TikTok within just five months.

His Instagram following also saw a significant increase, growing from 3,000 followers at the beginning of the year to 420,000 now.

This summer, Gareth is set to embark on his first headline tour, with most shows already sold out.

He will also attend Nashville’s Mayfest, VIP parties, and write with top songwriters.

His debut single, 'What You Don’t Know', is set to released very soon, with more original music to follow.

"We have five songs ready to go and over the next few weeks, I'm going to tease some of them," Gareth said.

For the first time, Gareth is financially stable through his music.

His move to Nashville represents a new chapter in his life where he will continue to expand his career and grow his fanbase.

From humble beginnings in Castlederg to the vibrant music scenes of Nashville, Gareth Hamilton is a rising star to watch!