The Eastern

Johannes Van Kan

Jess Shanks, Adam McGrath, Jono Hopley, Hadassah Green, Hanna Harding, Anita Clark, and Banjo the dog.

Adam McGrath and Jess Shanks first met after a string of rather poetic events:

"A Hank Williams record left in a friend's flat, stories of a banjo-playing girl across the harbour, friends sharing common tales of the both of us and then, eventually, our meeting was forced by our travelling brother-in-arms, funeral country singer Mr Delaney Davidson. A beer or two and a short practice later, we played our first show the night of our first meeting," Adam recounts.

Both Adam and Jess had made their way around the world, only to find themselves back where they started, at home in Lyttelton.

"Our wandering spirits ended up disillusioned with day jobs and bored with our bosses, so I guess we were looking for a way to keep moving and adventuring on our own terms," Adam says.

Thus The Eastern was born.

For most gigs these days, The Eastern's core members, Adam and Jess, are joined by two or three other musicians. Sometimes The Eastern swells into a six or seven-piece band and, at other times, it'll just be the two originals, strumming away. Whatever the combo, The Eastern has become a band known for its folk/country sound, flavoured with a twist of punk and drawn out of traditional instruments, like that fateful banjo.

In Adam's mind: "We're a string band that roars like a punk band, that swings like a gospel band, that drinks like a country band, that works like a bar band, that hopes like folk singers, and sings love songs like union songs, and writes union songs like love songs, and wants to slow dance and stand on tables, all at the same time."

As the house band at Lyttelton's Wunderbar and SOL's Cartel, and with at least 200 gigs a year, Christchurch is the perfect place for The Eastern. Auckland might beckon if a musician wants to schmooze the industry big wigs, but Adam says hard work and commitment trump geography.

"There are as many places to play in Lyttelton as there are in Auckland at the moment. And there are audiences here who are invested in music and bands, and that should be cherished."

Besides, this band isn't one for staying still for long, with tours having taken the members around New Zealand more times than they can count, as well as all over the world.

"From Sun Studio in Memphis to the Anzac hall in Featherston, it's all thanks to music," Adam says.

Having opened for Jimmy Barnes and Fleetwood Mac, released two albums, and toured with the Old Crow Medicine Show and Steve Earle, Adam believes staying together and "making a family of friends out of our band of misfits" remains their greatest achievement.

"We believe in playing like our lives depend on it, we believe in speaking truth to power, and believe in the glory and weight of rooms full of singing and dancing."