TAKE a former Olympic athlete and a member of one of Australia's most successful rock bands and you would end up with a pretty unlikely pairing.
But the union between sports star- turned-musician Paul Greene and former Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst has proved a match made in music heaven.
Simply known as Hirst and Greene, the pair are on their first run of dates and will make two appearances in Newcastle and the Hunter this week.
Hirst and Greene are touring to support the release of the debut album In the Stealth of Summer , which rounds off years of writing and recording.
The pair first met when Hirst was working on a music project for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Greene, who played music on the side while training, met Hirst and the pair instantly hit it off.
``The first time we met in the studio we got on really well and ended up doing some songwriting together,'' Greene said.
``The songs just kind of evolved from our songwriting sessions. I used to go to his house every couple of weeks when we both lived in Sydney and there were just all these songs.
``I guess it's just one of those things where everything is just easy and it comes really naturally. It just works really well.'' Greene said the approach to the project has been so casual that he had managed to release three solo albums since he first began recording with Hirst.
With just a couple of shows under their belts, their partnership has proved to transform well on stage with Hirst on vocals, six-string acoustic guitar and stomp box while Greene handles vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar and harmonica.
Hirst and Greene will perform at The Kent Hotel on Sunday at 8pm followed by another show at Harrigan's at Pokolbin on Monday.
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