08/12/2026
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, heโs a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist with diverse influences such as Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Rickie Lee Jones.
Nigel has played some of the worldโs most prestigious music festivals, including Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, MerleFest, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Adelaide Guitar Festival (AUS), 30A Songwriters Festival, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, and the Cambridge Folk Festival (UK). In 2025, he won the Telluride Blues Challenge at the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival.
His sophomore album Black Crow garnered wide critical acclaim including a four-star review in Rolling Stone and a nomination for Best Country Album at the Music Victoria Awards, debuting at #1 on Australiaโs AMRAP Charts. His 2023 album The Reckoning received back-to-back nominations for Best Blues Work at the 2023 and 2024 Music Victoria Awards and a four-star review in The Australian. 2025 marked a return to his roots as a folk songwriter with his latest album The Lone Reckoningโa raw, emotive, stripped back rendition of his 2023 award-nominated album The Reckoning.
A deep thinker and truth seeker with a penchant for all things peculiar, he sings of human frailty, grace, and the cosmosโsongwriting that cuts to the bone.
โDjango Reinhardt with a cowboy twistโ โGrateful Web UK
โTailor made for fans of Tom Waitsโ โRhythms Magazine
โPoignant and mysteriousโ โMaverick Magazine UK
โVocal swagger of Van Morrison and dark spirituality and intelligence of Nick Caveโ 4 STARSโThe Australian
