Gareth has opened up about the ridicule he received due to growing up listening to country music in the U.K.
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As a Brit myself, I know the cutting 'banter' prevalent across the U.K. From England all the way to Northern Island, no one knows how to mock something to shreds like the British. And that special treatment is usually reserved for your friends.
The U.K. has only recently grown a country scene. 10 years ago, any kid would have been a laughing stock for listening to country music, especially American country music. That's just how it was back then. As rising country star Gareth grew up listening to country, he had his fair share of ridicule.
We recently sat down together to talk about his latest EP, Steal Your Thunder. While there, I asked him what difficulties he faced growing up enjoying country music.
"My grandparents would listen to like, the older country artist, and when I was a kid, I would listen to that when I was with them," he explained his introduction to the genre.
Inspired by his grandparents' taste in country music, he would spend time on Spotify going through country playlists and discovering and exploring the many artists on the scene. He'd "listen to it all the time."
But that didn't come without being made fun of.
Gareth Shares How He Got Made Fun Of For Listening To Country Music
"Everyone made fun of me for listening to that kind of music," he shared. But times have changed.
"And now fast forward to the present day, everyone else is now also listening to it, so it's funny how it changes."
Thankfully, Gareth didn't receive too much prodding about his music tastes. "It wasn't like, horrible, like it wasn't nothing really bad," he elaborated.
"It was just small jokes, but it never bothered me," I mean you do need thick skin growing up here.
"Someone makes fun of my music tastes, it's not a big insult to me or anything."
If anything, how he got treated makes him appreciate country music's popularity today.
"It's just cool to see how people have switched, and just jumped on the bandwagon of country" he said.
I do reckon that Gareth's success will turn even more heads over to country. I do reckon that in a few years, Gareth will be retrospectively credited as the spearhead of country music in the British Isles. Mark my words.
