Spiral Bound, Ernest Aines debut album was released last year along with with single releases – Yellowstone, So Far and Tail Tale – that have earned him playlisting on ABC Country and ABC Double J in Australia, plus UK, Canada and USA radio plays also.
We met Ernest on his trip to the UK in January 2024 where he played shows around the country building an enthusiastic audience as he went. He returns later this year to play at Cambridge Folk Festival.
He is an award winning altfolk/americana Australian singer songwriter from Melbourne.
Considered by industry folk to be Australia’s Folk rising star, he is getting the attention he deserves worldwide having been invited to play at the world’s largest and prestigious folk conference – Folk Alliance International – Kansas City, Missouri in February 2023 – and represented Sounds Australia at the Library of Congress invite show. There, he wowed audiences, silenced them and then received standing ovations. After Ernest’s performance at the 2023 FAI official showcase, American Folk legend and Grammy lifetime achievement award recipient, Tom Paxton went backstage, shook Ernest by the shoulders and said, “Where have you been!! Keep doing this, keep doing this!”. Van Dyke Parks has stated Aines is a “Giant, lyrically and musically”.
His soulful voice, Cole Clarke pickin, stomp box have drawn comparisons to the work of Ray Lamontagne, Bon Iver, Jeff Buckley and on more recent releases, Nick Drake.