Nigel Wearne saunters after dark in the music of the night, blending blues, jazz and Americana-noir. Hailing from Gunditjmara country in the deep south of Australia, he’s a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist with diverse influences such as Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones. A deep thinker and truth seeker with a penchant for all things peculiar, he sings of human frailty, grace and the cosmos; songwriting that cuts to the bone.
Nigel has toured Australia, New Zealand, the US, UK, Ireland and Canada and performed at some of the world’s most prestigious music festivals including Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (USA), MerleFest (USA), Cambridge Folk Festival (UK), Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion (USA), Woodford Folk Festival (AUS), 30A Songwriters Festival (USA), Clonakilty Intl. Guitar Festival (IRE) and Philadelphia Folk Festival (USA).
His sophomore album, Black Crow garnered wide critical acclaim including a 4-STAR review in Rolling Stone, a nomination for Best Country Album at the Music Victoria Awards and it debuted at #1 on Australia’s AMRAP Charts. His 2023 album The Reckoning received back-to-back nominations for Best Blues Work at the 2023 & 2024 Music Victoria Awards, a 4-STAR review in The Weekend Australian and had two songs selected as finalists (top #10) in the International Songwriting Competition.
Rollicking, rumbling, sneering and reflective, The Reckoning is a full band explosion of songs, stories and musical mayhem; Gretsch electric guitar, horns, reeds, Hammond organ, drums and bass. All the while, Wearne’s crooning, cutting, monolithic vocal keeps lyricism and poetry at the forefront. Think after dark jazz club meets Ennio Morricone with a dose of soul. An enlivening experience that inhabits the after-dark realms of blues, jazz and rock ‘n roll; this is Americana-noir.
2025 marked a return to his roots as a folk songwriter with his latest album The Lone Reckoning. A raw, emotive, stripped back rendition of his 2023 award-nominated album The Reckoning.
“tailor made for fans of Tom Waits… with fire and brimstone lyrics that recall Nick Cave“ RHYTHMS MAGAZINE
“intoxicating New Orleans-tinged Americana… a bit of Waits, some Early James and C.W. Stoneking“ POST TO WIRE
Check out Nigel’s luthier work HERE.
