After an extended European stay this winter, Adam McGrath lead singer and songwriter from Christchurch folk stalwarts/bulwarks The Eastern, intends to embark on what seems like his one millionth tour of New Zealand.
Refusing to bullshit you into believing that he is anything special he simply offers that it will be one man, a guitar, a beer belly full of yarns, folk songs, road songs and heart songs, doing the best he can for whomever shows up. And if anyone does he will be humbled and proud in equal measure.
However he still attempts to throw this dispatch into the sullied shameless waters of self promotion in the hope that if you or anyone you know has a twisted penchant for ‘one man, a guitar, a beer belly full of yarns, folk songs, road songs and heart songs, doing the best he can for whomever shows up’,and are yet to get sick of him after the past 999,000 tours, then surely any one of the twenty plus shows around NZ this spring will be worth putting your money down for.
He has been described as ‘NZ toughest songwriter’ as well as ‘a national treasure’ and after pulling in over 1000 shows over the past decade with The Eastern and solo (a million plus makes better copy but was also a lie), he is experienced enough to (mostly) avoid kicking the drinks over during the show, continue talking for up to11-12 minutes between the songs and too also manage fielding requests for ‘something we can dance to’ with diplomacy and hostility in equal measure.
One thing is for sure after all this time out in the great territory of these long lonesome isles you’d be hard pressed to find someone who cares as much about the audience as he does about his own ‘internal and external struggles’ that somehow he makes a living from making songs up about. He will play his ass off and promises not to quit until at least someone in the audience has yawned 14 times or put their fingers in the ears twice.
