8 Ball Aitken

Even though 8 Ball Aitken is just now releasing his first album in the states, the eight albums (and myriad videos) in his award-winning Australian catalog offer further proof that you don’t have to be American to deliver authentic Americana music. As his growing legions of non-Aussie fans also confirm, his bluesified, swampified, countrified southern rock feels right at home on stages in Texas (his newly adopted home), or Nashville, Ontario or Amsterdam.

His self-titled new album perfectly conveys his propensity for making music with “a lot of attitude”  — and fun. With song titles such as “Seven Bucks an Hour in a Chicken Suit,” “Witness Protection,” “Outback Booty Call,” and the #1 Australian CMR hit single, “She’s Going To Mexico, I’m Going To Jail,” it’s filled with what he characterizes as “party music for the real hillbillies.”

“If the girls don’t dance, it ain’t rock ’n’ roll,” Aitken insists. Doing his best to make sure his audiences get on their feet, this accomplished slide player and frequent one-man band even pulls out a variety of homemade “junk” guitars crafted from recycled parts. “The Nivea wrinkle cream can guitar is a chick magnet,” he claims. “It makes you look 20 years younger.”

But the former fruit-picker isn’t joking when he says, “One of my happiest achievements is having over a thousand people say to me, ‘That’s the most fun I’ve ever had at a gig.’ To make people happy comes above everything else.”

What the critics say...

"One listen to Alive In Tamworth has you living the blues, feeling it, understanding the primal grooves raining down in spades.  This is blues from the swamp and you need to get on board." Samuel J. Fell (Rhythms Mag / Rolling Stone)

Aitken’s devastatingly accurate portrayal of steamy life in the swamps, cane fields and forests of our far north is akin to Louisiana man Tony Joe White’s tales about the deep south. David Dawson (Country Update / Beat Magazine / Producer of Nu Country TV)

“Yellow Moon is a fantastic tune - classic blues riff with an awesome voice to top it off... It's no wonder this dude is going so well around the world, and this song's picking up awards! Whoo! ” Sarah Howells - Triple J

"If you like roots music this red-headed Queenslander is the real deal." Darrell Croker - Newcastle Herald

“There is a gentleman named 8 Ball Aitken who hails from Far North Queensland who is making some of the most bona fide sounding country, blues and rock around at the moment. Settling in on his National Guitar, this flaming red haired and wild bearded dude is a true Aussie larrikin. With 5 CD’s under his belt (since 2004) and a non-stop worldwide touring schedule, 8 Ball is making a name for himself in Nashville and Tamworth and all points in between. ” Paul Busch - Tom Magazine

“Swampy, catchy, capturing the spirit of his own patch of Australia and making it universal and appealing to us all... very distinctive and original. 8 Ball is clocking up the credentials... with this album he is set to take another quantum leap.” Susan Jarvis - Capital News

“The fire-haired lad from far North Queensland shredded his way through one scorcher of a set last night. With a voice reminiscent of John Fogerty and guitar playing prowess that would put many to shame, 8 Ball more than left his mark.”

Matt Lawrence - Blacktown Sun