Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nigel Wearne will kick off his UK tour tomorrow, Friday the 13th, in Aldershot alongside acclaimed singer-songwriter Lauren Housley. The duo first met in Montreal, Canada, in 2019 and bonded over a mutual appreciation for John Prine. This chance meeting would lead to the ‘To The Edge’ single, a wonderful minor-key lament ideal for a David Lynch movie. Alongside the tour, Wearne will slip in a solo showcase at UK Americana Music Week on the 25th. The tour dates, video for ‘To The Edge’ and more about Nigel Wearne follow:
Nigel Wearne photo credit Ian Laidlaw
Ominous, poignant and mysterious; To The Edge is a potent lament of fate gone wrong. Two lovers by the riverside grappling with truth; that irrevocable moment when the past cannot be undone and everything changes. Why was the timing so wrong? “We needed truth / But now there ain’t time to heal”. Wearne’s lush Gretsch guitar swathed with spooky Hammond organ, drums and double bass set the scene. Morricone-esque horns tug at the heartstrings, as Wearne and Housley croon and cast shadows across the tale in all its mystery. A soulful, minor-key slow-burn that skirts the fringes of jazz and 60s rock ‘n’ roll.
It was early 2019 in the bustling Arts Café in Montreal, Canada. Nigel and Lauren were both in town to showcase at Folk Alliance International and found themselves on camera as part of a documentary on the conference. Instantly hitting it off, they spoke about the future of folk music and their mutual admiration of John Prine, all the while sharing their dry wit. After reconnecting in New Orleans in early 2020, they got to work during the pandemic and the rest is in the tape-reel.
Singer-songwriter, luthier, poet and gleaner, Nigel Wearne saunters after dark in the music of the night. 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 Gillian Welch. Blending blues, folk and Americana-noir, he sings of human frailty, grace and the cosmos. A deep thinker and truth speaker with a penchant for all things peculiar; songwriting that cuts to the bone.
