THE MCCLYMONTS:
the Aussie country music group on the great support of their mother and juggling career and family
The McClymonts have won 13 Golden Guitars, two ARIAs and achieved multi-platinum record sales. Yet the sisters and their mum Toni tell Jenny Brown, their greatest achievement has been juggling motherhood and career.
It can be a long, dull drive down the dusty roads of rural Australia, grey gumtrees spooling off to either side of the family car, casting bars of sun and shade. As boredom threatens, soaring three-part harmonies start to float from the open windows, accompanying a Dolly Parton tape.
School’s out and the McClymont sisters – Brooke, Samantha and Mollie – are off to yet another weekend talent quest, their mother Toni behind the wheel, musical instruments and a suitcase of glitzy costumes stashed in the boot.
“That was the way we rolled,” grins Brooke, the eldest of the gifted siblings who grew up to become Golden Guitar award-winning country music favourites, The McClymonts. “Mum took us to different festivals or talent quests pretty much every weekend. Sometimes it took the whole weekend to get there and back! It was every weekend, wasn’t it, Sam?” Blissfully feeding her new baby, Elroy, she turns to her sister for confirmation.
While 38-year-old Brooke is the laid-back, creative songwriter of the outfit, part-time Getaway presenter Sam has a sharp commercial brain, and the youngest, Mollie, reckons she falls somewhere in the middle.
Nowadays, as happily married mothers-of-two, they juggle the diverse demands of husbands, small children, business, composing, touring and recording; their new studio album – aptly titled Mayhem to Madness – is coming out in June.
For public consumption, they make it look easy. Yet behind the scenes Sam, 34, ruefully admits: “We are never going to have it all and be balanced, that’s such a stupid word, with career and everything. Some days if I just can’t manage something for work, I have to call Brooke or Mollie and ask one of them to take over. It’s nice because we can share the load and break things up between the three of us, which helps.”
Resolutely upbeat, The McClymonts have had their challenges, rows and disappointments, but you’re hard pressed to find out. Reluctantly, Sam admits she worries when her husband, RAAF pilot Ben Poxon, gets deployed to war zones and global hotspots. “But I feel I kind of know what it’s all about because we met when he flew us around Iraq and Afghanistan, where we were entertaining the troops.”
Yes, it was tough when Brooke’s first pregnancy forced the band to abandon their greatest ambition – US stardom – something they chased for years with single-minded determination. “We were always so driven,” recalls Sam. “We were travelling around the States by bus, working so hard, making no money, just trying to get seen. We put our whole lives into it, but then we had to make a decision seven years ago. That dream was over.”
However, there is no regret or bitterness today. “The thing is, we’ve always been taught not to complain. That’s our upbringing,” she explains. “We were always taught, ‘No-one wants to hear your sob story, just suck it up, get on and do the job. People deal with harder stuff every day.’
“We don’t like ... I feel uncomfortable if anyone feels sorry for me. We’re not very good even with taking compliments. We just get on and do it.” She laughs uproariously. “We often joke that we wouldn’t do well at all on shows like The Voice or Australian Idol, because we don’t have ‘a story’ to get people interested. That’s just not our personality. It’s about music to us. I know the way you connect to people is by sharing your stories, and that’s something as we get older we’re learning to do, we’re opening up more. But we’ve been very closed books for a long time.”
The way they tell it, their biography is fairly straightforward. A contented, low-key start in their childhood home of Grafton, northern NSW, beside the slow-moving Clarence River, where music and sport kept them out of trouble.
Brooke grimaces wryly: “We were always at talent quests or working. I was that person at school, it became a joke. You know, ‘Brooke won’t be there because she’s singing!’ I missed
my Year 10 and Year 12 formals, a lot of those important growing up experiences in high school, and I was really bummed about that at the time. But I’m glad now.
“Mum would say, ‘You can party the rest of your life, or you can have a career.’ And I was like, ‘oh, okaaay.’ The choice was made and we are where we are now. Our parents didn’t have a musical bone in their bodies but they always said, ‘Go for it, you can make it your job.’ And if they hadn’t been like that, I guess things would have been very different.”
The driving force behind their success, in every way, was glamorous, determined mother Toni. An “awesome” Grafton hairdresser who had her first child at a youthful 18, she wanted her girls to experience a wider world than she had ever known. As it turned out, Brooke’s innate musical talent paved the way.
For as long as Toni can remember, her eldest daughter would sing and dance around the family’s verandahwrapped house, staging impromptu performances at neighbourhood barbecues and parties, persuading her sisters to join in and dreaming up arrangements. “It’s something I always did,” Brooke says. “Gosh, if I was to pick a number out of my head, I’m not sure, I don’t know when it started. I used to practise singing in front of my bedroom mirror all the time.”
Nobody knew where that unmistakable skill came from. Father Pete, a local butcher, loved traditional country artists such as Slim Dusty, while Toni preferred pop. Music played a part in the McClymonts’ lives, but neither parent viewed it as much more than aural wallpaper. Certainly it wasn’t initially seen as a potential career path for their slightly eccentric, free-spirited firstborn – let alone the other two.
According to Toni, it took a visiting friend to note what was right beneath their noses. “We knew Brooke loved singing, but I guess you never think your own kid is good enough to get up in front of other people. Then my girlfriend came around one day and said, ‘Oh God, Brooke can really belt out a tune! You should enter her in the Jacaranda Festival talent quest.’
“I wasn’t sure if she could even remember a song all the way through. But she knew I Just Want to Make Love to You – aged 11! – and ended up winning second prize down in Market Square, in front of hundreds of people.
“From there it just snowballed,” says Toni. “If you’re meant to do it, it happens. Because she was good at something and really liked it, Brooke found her niche in life. Until then she had struggled at school, she was a bit of a loner. But suddenly everything fell into place.
“Sam and Mollie were a lot younger and used to come along for the ride until they got bored sitting around watching Brooke perform, so they decided to sing too. I was their manager for a while, and I loved it. I like to be organised and I plan ahead. I’m a rules person but I never had to crack the whip really!”
Toni makes it sound simple, choosing to downplay all those weekend road trips and the countless hours spent sourcing songs and talent quest
costumes. Not to mention keeping three beautiful, energetic daughters – Sam and Mollie arrived five and six years after Brooke – on the straight and narrow. As a hairdresser in a gossipy place like Grafton, Toni had eyes and ears everywhere, ensuring her girls were safe. “Mum always found out what was going on,” says Sam.
“Oh, she was a go-getter,” chuckles unassuming Mollie, 33, who is based in Wollongong, NSW, with husband Aaron Blackburn and their children Ned, four, and Elky, two. “If we wanted to learn a new instrument, do dance classes, singing lessons, whatever, Mum always said yes. She let us explore what interested us and helped us discover what we were good at, which was lovely.
“I think I’m very similar to her, in a way. I do that for my kids too, and if they don’t like something, that’s okay. Mum didn’t force us but she gave us amazing opportunities. So much effort! I didn’t realise at the time. It’s not until you have kids of your own that you go, ‘Wow, I didn’t know!’”
It wasn’t simply that Toni worked full-time and generally ran the show. She also taught her daughters the primary importance of family, of sticking together and working towards a common goal.
“I don’t remember Mum ever going away or doing anything for herself,” say Brisbane-based Sam, who shares two energetic sons – Wilder, two, and one-year-old Ari – with husband Ben.
“All those talent quests, just so we could get out and sing!
“I’m in the trenches of motherhood now, right in the thick of it, and I just appreciate what our parents did for us. I look back and think, ‘Wow, this is what they did every day!’ The three of us learned so much from them. We grew up in the same household, so we have that as a base, the same morals and values.
“But the way we parent day-to-day is very different, and reflects our personalities. Brooke is very relaxed and goes with the flow. She isn’t interested in the business side of things, she just wants to turn up and sing. I love knowing the ins and outs of everything, I like to be in control of the situation, like Mum. I keep my
kids to a routine and I pack for a tour two days before we set off, that’s just me.
And Mollie sits somewhere between the two of us.”
It is pre-pandemic pandemonium at The Weekly’s photo shoot, with excited youngsters running in and out as The McClymonts get their hair and make-up done. Now the sisters live many hours apart – Brooke and musician husband Adam Eckersley just moved to a 100-acre property near
Forster, NSW – so this is a rare chance to catch up, swap children’s clothes and make a fuss of their mum.
“Distance is a thing,” sighs shift worker Toni, 57, who relocated to Sydney after her marriage broke down more than a decade ago. “If I want to visit any of the girls I have to travel and then stay overnight. We’re still very close but I can’t just call around for a cup of tea.
“Luckily, technology like FaceTime virtually lets us be in the same room, otherwise I would hardly ever see them. But they’re living their lives and I’m not living through my girls. I think that’s where a lot of parents go wrong.
“I brought them up to be very independent, so now I sometimes wish they were a bit more needy! But you’ve got to let them go. As long as they’re happy, as long as you can pay your bills and you love what you do, that’s the most important thing.”
Did she ever worry about music industry predators targeting her good-looking daughters? “Not really,” says Toni. “In the early years I was usually with them and if I wasn’t around, they were always together. They are pretty sensible. I was lucky, they were never into drugs or anything like that. It was a pretty clean lifestyle.
I never had any real concerns, only a few dodgy boyfriends.”
“Yes, I had some shockers. I acknowledge that,” beams Brooke, gently chiding cute, red-haired daughter Tiggy, seven, to play nicely with her younger cousins. “We used to write about bad relationships but we don’t have a lot of break-up songs any more, because we’re all happily married mothers. We’ve had to draw from some of our friends’ lives for this album! Our music is changing with the times but we try to keep it as real as possible and go with what’s happening.”
It’s more than three years since they last hit the recording studio and The McClymonts have experienced some major milestones in the interim. Like the rest of Australia, they have endured drought, fire, flood and COVID-19, but the births of their five most recent children have also brought great joy.
Looking back, it’s hard to fathom why they once imagined Brooke’s first baby would mean curtains for their career. “Imagine when I go and get pregnant at the age of 31,” she recollects. “We were soaring at the time, so in some ways it was a really sad moment. I thought, ‘Oh my God, the girls, we’re done. They’re going to be angry.’ But my husband went, ‘Honey, this is not over, people have babies all the time. We can make it work.’
“It was the next phase, really, and I’m so pleased. There’s never a great time in any industry to have a baby, especially as a working mum, but everything happens for a reason.”
In fact, looking back from Sam’s perspective, it was a blessing in disguise. “I would say that’s when our whole perspective on life and music changed. It was a full flip. Giving up that big dream of making it in the States was almost like a massive weight off our shoulders. It’s amazing how much happier we became when we decided to stay in Australia and put family first!”
Nowadays, in order to maintain a good work/life balance, touring is restricted to weekends only. “It means we really enjoy each other’s company,” Brooke explains. “We look forward to getting away for those couple of days together and we try to get as much sleep as we can on the road while we don’t have the kids. We don’t stay up and party, party. We go straight to bed after gigs now.”
In this, as in their music, The McClymonts are pitch perfect, singing the same tune. The occasional difference of opinion is simply settled by a vote and put behind them. “You can’t hold grudges with your sisters,” says down-to-earth Sam. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and we’re very honest with each other, sometimes good, sometimes bad. But over the years we’ve learned to get over it. If one of us is cranky, we just move on.”
With plans to get back on the road in September – lockdowns permitting – they see no grand finale in their future. “I reckon we’re going to be doing this forever,” adds Brooke, turning clairvoyant. “I don’t think there’s an end date. I think music is something you just do until you can’t do it any more ...
“We’re lucky, we’ve never had another job and we’re pretty proud of that. We’re certainly not putting down our guitars yet, because we still love it. We take every year as it comes, but as long as people want to buy tickets for our shows, we’ll keep going.”
Who knows, perhaps one day their kids will be on stage performing with them, like inter-generational country legends The Carter Family. “I think you’re looking a bit far ahead with that one,” chortles Brooke. “I look at Tiggy and she’s really musical but if she doesn’t get into it, that wouldn’t bother me either. Of course it would be cool if the kids follow in our footsteps, but we’ll see. Maybe we can get Mum up there with us. She’s like the sister that didn’t make the cut.” AWW
“We’re lucky, we’ve never had another job and we’re pretty proud of that.”
The McClymonts new album, Mayhem to Madness, is released on June 12 through Island Records.