Roots band The Eastern love to tour – so much so, they’ve clocked up more than 2000 shows across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States – opening for the likes of Fleewood Mac, The Jayhawks and Jimmy Barnes.
But tomorrow, they’ll be heading down the road from their home in Christchurch to play at Queenstown’s Te Atamira.
The band’s founding members, Jess Shanks and Adam McGrath, formed the band in Christchurch’s Lyttleton, widely lauded as a hub for creatives.
“We were introduced by mutual friends who felt we had a very similar approach to music,” Shanks, a singer, songwriter and banjo player, says.
“We had this philosophy that we would play everywhere, sometimes we’d play two or three times a day in cafes and bars and we’d travel around the country.”
Shanks describes the band’s sound as “folk country, punk rock” and says the punk rock aspect comes from the way they present themselves.
From time to time, the bank has anywhere from two to seven members – tomorrow, the audience will be treated to a full seven-person ensemble, complete with guitar, banjo, keys, accordion, double bass, fiddle and singing.
The Eastern will also be joined by Arrowtown’s Tom Maxwell and the Killergrams
The Eastern, Te Atamira, tomorrow, 7pm. Tickets $25, via bit.ly/3djdpm3
