Adam Eckersley & Brooke McClymontBrooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley are the perfect pairing – musically and romantically.
They are in step and in time, and have no qualms about letting others – whether it is a journalist on a Zoom call, or a gig attendee, or a music-lover with their headphones on – in on the (mostly) controlled chaos.
Just as the title of their upcoming album suggests, they are unabashed about putting their souls on show.
The husband-and-wife-songwriting-duo started out with separate careers: Brooke formed the musical trio The McClymonts with her two younger sisters and wrote songs for the likes of Olivia Newton-John and Kate DeAraugo; Adam was the former vocalist and lead guitarist of Bluezone.
They released their first album together – fittingly titled Adam & Brooke – in 2018. Their latest effort, Souls On Show, arrives as their third.
“Music was always our common ground, from right at the start,” Eckersley explains. “At home, we always bonded over music and wrote together along the way, and it was pretty much circumstantial when we first started.”
McClymont’s sisters were busy starting families and needed more time away from the road; Eckersley was between bands. “So it made financial sense for us to work together. We didn’t expect it to be a long-term thing.”
“We set the bar really low,” McClymont adds.
“We thought we might drive each other nuts,” Eckersley laughs. “But we got on the road and we really enjoyed it. And the project was totally different to the other things we had going on, so, musically, it was satisfying. I love listening to her sing.”
“And vice versa: his guitar-playing, songwriting, and singing are all incredible.”
“It was fun when we started, so we just thought we’d keep doing it. And we’re still doing it.”
McClymont leaps in, after a quick hit of her vape, with a mischievous, husky chuckle: “And we’re doing it in a lot of different ways!”
After the two middle-aged musicians recover from their fit of teen-like giggles, Eckersley adds, “If we ever get to the point where it feels like a drag, we’ll bail on it, but it makes a lot of sense. And we’re raising kids together.”
“It’s all they know,” McClymont says of their children’s relationship to their parents’ life on the roads. She mentions that her daughter used to go to school and ask her friends, “‘So where are your mum and dad gigging tonight, and who are you staying with while they’re away?’ She just assumed that every parent gigs on a weekend.”
They run a family and a business together, and are thus quite literally attached at the hip. But they are far from sick of each other.
“We get along in all aspects of the relationship and business side of things,” McClymont beams. “It’s a real joy. We don’t have to be polite with each other.”
“It just works. We both complement each other. And it’s convenient – a lot of our business meetings happen over a beer in the afternoon or a coffee in the morning.”
The thing that the two struggle most with is the social media side of things. “Imagine if you had to tell the greats back in the day, that they needed to film a TikTok dance?” McClymont scoffs, before doing an incredibly convincing impression of Aretha Franklin making a reel; something that cracks Eckersley up.
This affinity with old-school, analogue ways shines through on Souls On Show; it feels real and raw, a record of a different era. Part of that, they both think, could be attributed to the fact that the entire band was present in the studio, which wasn’t the case for their sophomore record Up, Down & Sideways, as it was recorded during the height of the pandemic. “So that was pretty exciting.”
“They all just excelled,” Eckersley says of their fellow musicians. “That’s why we wanted to call the album Souls On Show – everyone that was in the studio recording was letting it all hang out.”
“It was all of us giving it our all for this album,” McClymont says firmly, with evident gratification.
“And we didn’t feel like we were in a rush with this one. The songs just came together.”
“Adam and I are really proud of this body of work. I think we made sure that we were just keeping true to ourselves. We wanted to make sure we were writing the best record that we could. And I think we got there in the end.”
“I think the excitement is outweighing the anxiety for this release,” Eckersley offers. “And there’s a slightly different feeling being in our mid-forties than in our early twenties.” With age comes more acceptance of people feeling however they feel about the body of work.
McClymont feels the strong need to add: “There’s no tricks on this album. There’s no AI.”
“We can back it up to live.”
“That’s really important to us,” McClymont adds, explaining that they are, at the end of the day, a touring band. “That’s our main thing.”
What matters to the two of them is being able to showcase genuine emotion that others can relate to.
“We all grew up relying on someone else putting their struggles, how they felt, into their music. It was an important outlet to have, and I just don’t think AI can do that the same way as someone who’s lived can do it,” Eckersley says. “AI, its purpose is to paint by numbers and make money.”
The two are gearing up for a tour in support of the album release.
“We’re road dogs, we love it,” McClymont says.
“Neither of us have other jobs, so we’ve got to hit the road, you know what I mean?” Eckersley adds. “The reality is that, basically, with streaming, the income from albums is gone.
"So if we want our kids to have dinner, we’ve got to put it in front of people," he continues, chuckling. "Luckily we enjoy it, but if we didn’t we would have to do it anyway.”
Though they have children, and though they know they are not as young as they used to be, they are far from slowing down. The road is still their home, and fun is still their pursuit.
“The shenanigans still happen,” McClymont confirms. “But you know what? You don’t get stories out of sitting around.”
Brooke McClymont & Adam Eckersley's Souls On Show is out now, with tickets to their Australian tour dates on sale now.
Brooke McClymont & Adam Eckersley
2026/27 Tour Dates
Festivals
August 27th-30th, 2026 – Gympie Music Muster, Amamoor Creek State Forest, QLD
October 8th-11th, 2026 – Savannah In The Round, Mareeba, QLD
Saturday, October 24th, 2026 – Coffs Harbour Country Music Festival, Moonee Beach, NSW
Souls On Show Australian Tour
Saturday, November 14th, 2026 – Wauchope RSL, Wauchope, NSW
Saturday, November 28th, 2026 – The Beer Shed Brewing Co, Leumeah, NSW
Friday, December 4th, 2026 – Windsor RSL, Windsor, NSW
Saturday, December 5th, 2026 – Milton Theatre, Milton, NSW
Sunday, December 6th, 2026 – The Oaks Hotel, Albion Park Rail, NSW
Sunday, January 3rd, 2027 – Bellarine Estate Winery, Geelong, VIC
Saturday, January 9th, 2027 – Nabiac Hotel, Nabiac, NSW
Friday, January 22nd, 2027 – West Tamworth Leagues Club, Tamworth, NSW
Friday, February 19th, 2027 – Playhouse Theatre, Wagga Wagga, NSW
Saturday, February 20th, 2027 – Goulburn Workers, Goulburn, NSW
Sunday, February 21st, 2027 – Robertson Public House & Kitchen, Robertson, NSW
Saturday, February 27th, 2027 – The Commercial Hotel, Boggabri, NSW
Friday, March 5th, 2027 – Brothers Cairns, Cairns, QLD
Saturday, March 6th, 2027 – The Warehouse, Townsville, QLD
Sunday, March 7th, 2027 – Metropolitan Hotel, Mackay, QLD
Friday, March 12th, 2027 – Inverell RSM Club, Inverell, NSW
Saturday, March 13th, 2027 – Ballina RSL Club, Ballina, NSW
Sunday, March 14th, 2027 – Coutts Crossing Coronation Hall, Coutts Crossing, NSW
Friday, April 2nd, 2027 – Club Mudgee, Mudgee, NSW
Saturday, April 3rd, 2027 – Cobar Bowls & Golf Club, Cobar, NSW
Friday, April 9th, 2027 – Hamilton Hotel, Brisbane, QLD
Saturday, April 10th, 2027 – Racehorse Hotel, Ipswich, QLD
Thursday, April 15th, 2027 – Golden Vine Hotel, Bendigo, VIC
Friday, April 16th, 2027 – Hallam Hotel, Hallam, VIC
Saturday, April 17th, 2027 – York On Lilydale, Mt Evelyn, VIC
Friday, April 23rd, 2027 – Centro CBD, Wollongong, NSW
Saturday, April 24th, 2027 – Wenty Leagues, Wentworthville, NSW
Friday, April 30th, 2027 – Dee Why RSL, Dee Why, NSW
Friday, May 7th, 2027 – Belmont 16s, Belmont, NSW
Friday, May 14th, 2027 – Wests, Nelson Bay, NSW
Friday, May 21th, 2027 – Tuncurry Beach Bowling Club, Tuncurry, NSW
Saturday, July 10th, 2027 – Nindigully Pub, Nindigully, QLD
Saturday, July 30th, 2027 – The Doylo, Doyalson, NSW
