Gary McCormick & Adam McGrath Hit The Road With The Mainline Tour
by The Mainline · SCOOPGary McCormick and Adam McGrath are out on the road together, bringing two generations of New Zealand storytelling to the stage with The Mainline Tour. After decades of travelling the country, finding stories and making friends, the veteran poet and broadcaster and award-winning folk singer are sharing the ride. Expect songs, poems, yarns and crack-ups about who we are, where we’ve been, where we’re heading and what in the hell it all might mean.
The tour heads to New Plymouth on 30 October and Auckland on 31 October, followed by Wellington, Palmerston North and Ōkārito in 2027, with more dates to be announced soon.
It began over a tribute drink at the Lyttelton Arms, on the day Gary’s old road buddy Tim Shadbolt died. Gary, Tim and Sam Hunt had helped lay the blueprint for Adam’s life and work: strong art, deep words, high jinks and a door open to all comers.
“Gary, Tim and Sam helped show me a life I wanted a piece of. Songs, poems, getting in the car and finding out what was down the road. Some wisdom, some glorious nonsense, and people you’d never have met if you’d stayed home. I’m still chasing that. Gary and I have a few miles on us now and a fair bit left to say. So off we go. Bring your good selves, bring whatever sort of day you’ve had. You can’t get all your living done on your own,” says Adam McGrath.
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For nearly fifty years, Gary McCormick has kept New Zealand company, from his surf-riding, poetry-slinging years with Sam Hunt to bringing small-town characters into our living rooms through Heartland and keeping spirits up on radio nationwide on More FM. Named New Zealand Entertainer of the Year in 1997, he brings good humour, a sharp turn of phrase and a way of making you feel he’s your mate. Chances are he’s got a story about someone you know.
Adam McGrath, frontman and songwriter of The Eastern, has carved his own place in the country’s affections. Described by RNZ as a “national treasure” and the New Zealand Herald as “New Zealand’s toughest-minded songwriter”, he has grown from a rowdy young rambler into one of Aotearoa’s most compelling musical storytellers, earning his following one room at a time through more than a hundred shows a year on pub floors, hall stages and festival fields. His latest solo album, Wrecker Songs, reached No. 1 on the Aotearoa Albums Chart and No. 4 on the overall Albums Chart. There are miles in him yet.
Together, they have plenty of ground to cover and room for the odd detour. Gary’s lifetime of encounters meets Adam’s songs and stories, with humour, heart and neither man likely to leave a good yarn untold.
The invitation goes out to farmers, teachers, solo mums, labourers, gamblers and high rollers. Broke hearts and broke arses. Big hearts, tired minds, greenies, weirdos, straights, bankers and bullshitters.
The Mainline hopes to carry them all. Get on board, this train is bound for glory.
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