These Grafton girls are otherwise known as the McClymonts and theirs is the stuff fairy tales are made of. Three young country girls with a love for music taking their dream around Australia and beyond, in fact all the way to the holy grail of country music in Nashville.
Samantha, Mollie and Brooke are completely grounded deciding to split their time between Australia and the US. The Australian part of the equation will be realised in April and Tasmania is privileged to be one of the first to sample the girls new music as well as revisit the hits of the past. It will be the first time the girls have performed as a headline act in Tassie having toured here before as a support act with Lee Kernaghen.
I had the opportunity to chat to Samantha, one of the delightfully talented McClymont sisters (the other two being Brooke and Mollie) and talk about their upcoming tour of Tasmania and to things farther afield, such as their growing success on the US country music market.
Samantha tells me all the girls music is written by them and stands the test of a good country song, being ‘expressive, emotive’ and as Samantha says ‘real’.
Although the girls are still very young they have accomplished a lot in a short time. In fact the girls have really been singing and making music all their lives growing up together in Grafton NSW. The last six years has seen a recording career and continued success as they have grown more confident.
In 2011 the girls spent quite a bit of time in the US where they have now established a following. Samantha tells me about the enthusiasm of the US audience for the Aussie girls, being quick to take to the internet and print out pictures to take along to the concerts and have the girls sign. This year will see the girls travelling between Australia and the US, promoting their new album ‘Hits and Previews’ due for release mid-way through the year.
You can expect to see some high energy performance from the girls who give a fresh face and form to country music. They present an image of the country girl that could master a muster all by themselves. It’s all about the power of three and of course girl power.
Although they are three the girls bring very individual talents to the group. Samantha plays bass guitar, Brooke acoustic and Mollie the mandolin. Because we refer to them collectively as the McClymonts I ask Samantha to give me an interesting fact about each of the girls and she is able to oblige. Sam tells me that she is in to snowboarding, Brooke is very sporty and enjoys playing hockey and Mollie is a big fan of American country music artist Gretchen Wilson.
The girls have also been involved in some collaboration with other musicians such as Troy Cassar-Daley, another artist born in Grafton, and recorded ‘Islands in the Stream’ with Ronan Keating on his ‘Duet’ album, and also you may have seen the girls on Damien Leith’s video clip of Roy Orbison’s Blue Bayou.
Their immediate aim is to further establish their growing profiles both in Australia and the US and to travel more widely in Australia.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see The McClymonts in concert and check out the offer of a free DVD of the girls journey from Grafton to Nashville if you pre order the new CD at their official site http://www.themcclymonts.com.au.
Samantha, Brooke and Mollie will be playing Wrest Point Casino on 27th April and Launceston Country Club 28th and 29th April.
Paula Xiberras
