Irish country music star Nathan Carter will headline An Irish Shindig 2025 at the renowned Electric Ballroom in Camden, London this week.
An Irish Shindig is iCap’s flagship fundraising event, celebrating Irish culture and community while supporting the charity’s vital mission to provide culturally sensitive counselling and therapy to the Irish community living in the UK. Proceeds from the event will directly fund iCap’s mental health services, helping hundreds of individuals each week who face unique challenges in accessing appropriate support.
Nathan Carter is one of the biggest names in Irish country music.
Born in Liverpool with Irish heritage, he won an Irish World award early on in his career.
Since then he has gone on to relocate to Ireland and earn legions of fans with his hits like Wagon Wheel.
It is also no coincidence that Nathan’s success has coincided with the image of country music as a genre getting a makeover.
Once considered out of date and out of touch, singers like Nathan, Lisa McHugh and Derek Ryan have made it trendy again.
Nathan has performed at Croke Park for the Pope, had Hollywood A listers ‘rocking out’ to his sets and headlined some of the biggest festivals across the UK and Ireland.
He also recently played Páirc festival in Birmingham, a festival he has graced every year since it started in 2022.
With tracks such as ‘Wagon Wheel’ and ‘I Wanna Dance’ becoming huge hits, he is one of Ireland’s biggest artists, who has outsold One Direction, Pharrell Williams and Michael Bublé.
He also became the first Irish country act to reach number 1 in the Irish charts in 2013 after Garth Brooks, six years before.
Kate Fuller, owner of the Electric Ballroom and one of iCap’s pioneering Hospitality Ambassadors, is proud to lead sponsor this year’s event. “We are delighted to welcome Nathan Carter to the Electric Ballroom for what promises to be a spectacular night. Supporting icap’s mission through this event is a privilege, and we look forward to seeing the community come together for a memorable evening of music and celebration,” she said.
iCap CEO Fionuala Bonnar commented: “We are thrilled to have Nathan Carter headline An Irish Shindig. This event is one of the highlights of our calendar and plays a crucial role in helping us raise awareness and funds for our culturally sensitive mental health services. The support we receive through this event allows us to continue providing tailored therapy to the Irish community across the UK.”
iCap is a UK-based charity dedicated to providing culturally sensitive counselling and therapy for the Irish community. With over 200 individuals supported weekly, icap delivers tailored mental health services designed to meet the unique needs of Irish people living in the UK. Last year alone, icap delivered almost 7,500 hours of therapy, the youngest client being 18 years old and the oldest 88.
The 2010 Rose of Tralee Clare Kambamettu is a massive advocate for iCap.
Clare told The Irish World at Darkness into Light 2023: “I think there’s such a range of emotions that are associated with something like this.
“There’s definitely times during the walk where I’ve been thinking about people I know who’ve died by suicide and their families and loved ones, and that’s brought a kind of sense of feeling quite sombre with it.
“Then there’s the absolute joy of sharing this experience together with other people and finding a way to connect even in the difficult times, it is one of the things that makes us human and that spark of connection is just a really optimistic, lovely way to feel.
“Pieta House and the charities like ICAP that are associated with it over here in the UK are incredibly important.
“I’m a psychologist and obviously I’m really interested in people’s mental health.
“I think when we come together as a community and are able to provide services for people who are most in need, then we’re doing something really special.
“So it’s definitely something that I’m really happy and passionate about supporting.
“As a psychologist, I’m just very aware of the numbers of us that are actually struggling through difficult times.
“I think struggle is probably part of the human experience and having a person to talk to, a hand to hold, a little bit of companionship in those bleakest moments is a saving grace for all of us.
“And when that’s not there, I think that’s when people get into really, really dark times.
“I think ICAP does something phenomenal in being able to provide that support to the Irish community in the UK.
“I think one of the things that I loved about what they do is just the the age range of people that they work with.
“I remember hearing that one of their oldest clients is in her 90s, and one of the youngest is just 18.
“I think that just shows how struggle and times of difficulty happens to all of us at different stages in our lives and just having somebody that you can rely on, having a support service that you can turn to like ICAP, like Pieta House and the other organisations, it’s invaluable actually.
“You can’t put a price on how valuable that is to people when they’re really struggling.”
Someone else who supports the charity is the reigning London Mary from Dungloe, Kate Tobin.
On her work with iCap Kate told The Irish World: “It’s very rewarding and a great charity.
“Mental health is a big, big thing for me.
“I’m a strong advocate for that.”
Nathan Carter headlines An Irish Shindig with support from The Reels, Two Canoes and Colin Andrew at Electric Ballroom on Thursday 25 September.
For tickets and more information, go to electricballroom.co.uk.
For more information about iCap, go to icap.org.uk.