The fire-haired lad from far north Queensland shredded his was through one scorcher of a set last night at Rooty Hill RSL Club.

With a voice reminiscent of John Fogerty and guitar playing prowess that would put many to shame, 8 Ball more than left his mark.

The small yet enthusiastic Rooty Hill crowd were treated to a cajun feast of southern inspired country music with a twist of swampy blues, a rocking beat, and some of the sweetest slide guitar work ever delivered at the venue.

Primarily showcasing material from his Rebel With A Cause album, 8 Ball hit top gear on tracks like Cowboy Movie, Cyclone Country, Black Swamp Creek, Guitar Man and the smile-inducing Outback Booty Call.

He included a rollicking version of When The Saints Go Marching In for good measure - complete with crowd participation.

Part way through the set it dawned on me that 8 Ball Aitken really is one heck of a hard devil to classify. And that's a real good thing.

At a time where there are many cardboard cut-outs and Taylor Swift wannabes all seemingly singing from the same song book, 8 Ball is certainly in a league of his own.

To say he's ''different'' really isn't fair.

Too often ''different'' implies weirdness, or musically speaking, music that is too hard to fathom.

What 8 Ball delivers is far from that. His music puts a broad-beamed smile on the face, creates a pulse in the toes and an urge to get up and move.

Definitely a hard act to follow.

Shame on any punter that didn't have a valid reason for not being at the show - you really don't know what you missed.

Here's hoping sanity prevails and his return to a local stage is sooner rather than later.