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 footstomping 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.
