A historic touring corridor connecting two capital cities is experiencing a groundswell of live music activity and the industry is hoping to capitalise on it.
Mount Gambier has become the backdrop of this year's Regional and Remote Music Summit attracting 50 speakers for three days of deep dives into the state of music in Australia.
Christine Schloithe, CEO of MusicSA who is hosting the event, says the conference was shifting into an aspirational space where lessons could be learnt from other regional music scenes.
"If we could have different types of conversations, to see how can we leverage a different outcome," she said.
Among the case studies under the spotlight is the former steel-city turned vibrant music hub of Wollongong in NSW.
A new study - Enhancing Regional NSW’s Contemporary Music Ecosystem Model - showed how Wollongong emerged from industrial unrest after the downsizing of its steelworks industry in the 1990s into a globally recognised 'music city'.
The study found that council initiatives like the Revitalising Wollongong City Centre Plan leveraged from live music to regenerate employment and build on the region's coastal moniker.
Things like the Small Bar License made it possible for the city's flagship festival Yours and Owls to grow from a small venue into a 30,000 strong attendance record in 10 years.
Lead author of the report and RMIT music lecturer Dr Ben Green said local government created conditions that allowed a DIY (Do-it-yourself) community to take a risk.
"They're the people who make things happen, who are passionate and drive things and inspire others and I've seen in many regional places that these sort of key figures do have an outsized role," he said.
"You can't grow them or force them."
Owner of Wollongong's La La La's music venue Nathan Stratton says the DIY culture runs in the DNA of the community.
"Maybe it's because of that connection to the steelworks and the working class kind of blue-collar city ... that we like to be able to get together and do things and not be waiting around for somebody to open up a venue or to put up a stage to make something happen," he said.
The report is a sight for sore eyes for regional music scenes across Australia competing against punitive streaming platforms and a festival circuit constantly marred with cancellations.
But if any city could take a lesson from The Gong, it's South Australia's timber capital Mount Gambier, who has seen a recent groundswell of a regrowing live music industry.
"Mount Gambier is what used to be a thriving touring corridor between Melbourne and Adelaide, and vice versa," Ms Schloithe said.
"Being on the ground here in Mount Gambier has actually reactivated that touring corridor."
