For Brooke McClymont and husband Adam Eckersley, joining forces to write some music together during COVID-19 seemed like a good way to stay creative while unable to connect properly with their respective regular bands.
Little did they imagine their duo project would net them multiple Golden Guitar awards, put them at the top of the ARIA album charts and become their main gig.
“When COVID hit Adam and I just decided to do it; we were like, well, we can’t get together with anyone,” McClymont said.
“So that’s when this project was born, really, and it’s just working. What was going to be a side project has now become our full-time job at the moment, and we’re absolutely loving it.”
Both McClymont and Eckersley are musical stars in their own right, and up until the pandemic had kept their careers mostly separate.
McClymont and her two sisters Samantha and Mollie make up country music trio The McClymonts, and have won a swag of Australian and international awards over the outfit’s 18-year lifespan and performed at country music mecca The Grand Ole Opry.
Eckersley burst onto the blues scene as the lead guitarist and singer of Bluezone before heading in a more Southern rock-influenced country direction with The Adam Eckersley Band, which he established in 2010, and has won five Golden Guitars of his own.
The pair are now touring their second album Up, Down & Sideways, which was named the ARIA Best Country Album in 2023 and debuted at number one on the all-genre ARIA albums chart in June last year.
McClymont said part of the joy of the project was the chemistry they brought to their live performances.
“We always laugh and say we’re basically two fools on stools,” she said.
“We tell our stories, we’re ratbags, the banter is loose as and we never know what we’re going to say. I think being married, we just bounce off each other.
“The crowd usually dictates the type of night we’re going to have. If they’re really rowdy, well, it’s going to be rowdy. If they’re a quiet, listening crowd, we go with the feel of the room.
“It’s all about great country music, and it’s a good night to let your hair down and forget about the week you’ve had.”
Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley perform at the Gateway Hotel, Corio on Friday, April 19.
