8 Ball Aitken

Artist Information

Biography

8 Ball Aitken is touring with his new live album ‘Alive In Tamworth’. With his trademark electrified slide guitar, sense of humor, interactive 3D audience participation and Queensland swamp antics, 8 Ball Aitken has come up with a barnstorming riot of a recording. Averaging 200 gigs a year, 8 Ball is right on his game throughout his new album, ‘Alive In Tamworth’. He takes the country music capital of Australia by surprise with a fun night out.

8 Ball Aitken is the redneck preacher at the shotgun wedding between country and blues. It doesn’t matter which part of the family you’re from -- what does matter is the funky foot-stomping hullaballoo at the all-night party afterwards. Hailing from Far North Queensland, he grew up as a teenager in a run-down tobacco shed, making a living picking tropical fruits by day and picking guitars by night. 8 Ball’s first break came when he was hired to play nightly at the infamous Johno’s Blues Bar in Cairns.

Since the release of his first album ‘Behind The 8 Ball’ in 2003, 8 Ball has toured to date across every state and territory of Australia. He has also built a strong international profile, having played festival and club shows throughout Europe, USA, Canada & Japan. Highlights include gigs at the Americana Festival in Nashville, The Folk Alliance in Memphis, Canadian Music Week in Toronto and many others. He’s toured in Japan four times, where he headlined the popular Rokko Sun Music Festival. He has also performed extensively in Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway and the UK.

8 Ball Aitken is authentic -- a real-deal character who rattles the roof, stomps the planks, and gets his audiences whooping and hollering along in a frenzy of pure exuberance. He started work as a farm labourer aged fifteen, doing back-breakingly hard work on the mango and banana plantations of the Atherton Tablelands, a man's work for a boy's pay. A life-changing conversation with an Aboriginal elder, who told him he should pursue a career in music, convinced 8 Ball to pack his bags, grab his guitar, and leave the farm to meet his destiny.

8 Ball’s had several award wins including a Southern Star Award and two QLD Song Awards (for ‘Outback Booty Call’ & ‘Yellow Moon’). His singles ‘Rogue Pony’, ‘Cyclone Country’ & ‘Hands On Top Of The Wheel’ have all been top 10 country hits around Australia. ‘Cyclone Country’ earned 8 Ball his first Golden Guitar award nomination while single ‘Cowboy Movie’ was a finalist for APRA Australian Blues & Roots Song of The Year.

‘Alive In Tamworth’ has been released nationally through Phoenix Movement Records and MGM Distribution. 8 Ball has hit the road touring throughout Australia and USA to promote the new album.

Instrumentation

8 Ball Aitken - Vocals, Guitar, Stomp, biscuit tin

Discography

Albums:

'ALIVE IN TAMWORTH' - 2012

'THE TAMWORTH TAPES' - 2011

'REBEL WITH A CAUSE' - 2008

'ODD BALL IN' - 2006

'BEHIND THE 8 BALL' - 2004

Links

• Last.fm
• Twitter
• Facebook
• MySpace
• www.8ballaitken.com
• www.youtube.com/user/8ballaitken
• Facebook

Audio

• Cyclone Country.MP3
  Listen  
• Chocolate, Jack Daniels, And LSD.MP3
  Listen  
• Rogue Pony.MP3
  Listen  
• Nobody Looks Ugly After Midnight.MP3
  Listen  
• Pitbull Is Off The Chain (live).MP3
  Listen  
• Yellow Moon
  Listen  
• Hands On Top Of The Wheel
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Yellow Moon
• Cyclone Country
• Cowboy Movie
• The Party
• Hands On Top Of The Wheel
• Chocolate, Jack Daniels, and LSD
• We Are The Circus
• Rogue Pony

Video

Outback Booty Call MASTER.mov

Photo Gallery

Press

• REBEL WITH A CAUSE -- PRESS REVIEWS [+ Show ]
  

  What the critics say... “Swampy, catchy, capturing the spirit of his own patch of Australia and...
  What the critics say...
  
  “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
  Capitol News, July 2008
  
  
  “A very good hard-hitting album... country rock and Aussie blues / swamp music.”
  Charlie Sparrow
  Blue’s Country Magazine, August 2008
  
  
  “8 Ball is a phenomenon. Yep! Our very own “wild-haired boy”. The guy has some chops on the git, that’s gospel.”
  Luke Robertson
  Scene Magazine, August 2008
  
  
  8 Ball Aitken Awards...
  
  EMI Q Song Blues & Roots Song Of The Year Award 2008
  Golden Guitar Nomination – Best New Talent 2009
  People’s Choice Award Nomination 2009
  Star Maker Grand Finalist 2008 & 2009
  TIARA Awards 'Male Vocal' Nomination 2009
  AICMA Southern Stars – Rising Star Male Award 2008
  Gold Medalion Awards – Silver Medal for Touring Artist of the Year 2008
  

• Yellow Moon on Triple J [+ Show ]
  

  Fantastic tune - classic blues riff with an awesome voice to top it off... It's no wonder this dude ...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!

Setlist

1. Rogue Pony
2. Hit The Road
3. Deep North Town
4. We Are The Circus
5. Nobody Looks Ugly After Midnight
6. Run With The Pack
7. Pitbull Is Off The Chain
8. Good Time Music
9. Chocolate, Jack Daniels And LSD
10. Honk Stomp Spooky Swamp Country Rock Blues
11. Wherever I Lay My Hat
12. Cyclone Country
13. Cowboy Movie
14. The Party
15. Hands On Top Of The Wheel
16. Black Swamp Creek
17. Outback Booty Call
18. Heads or Tails
19. Yellow Moon
20. Riverside
21. Guitar Man
22. Rocky Road
23. The Other Side

Basic Requirements

Calendar