The award-winning pop star said she was inspired by Paul Kelly’s seemingly endless, border restriction-defying regional On The Road Again tour to plot her own musical exploration of Australia. Shark said she was excited about the “hustle” of winning over fans from Horsham in Victoria to Biloela in Queensland, from Wagga Wagga in NSW to Whyalla in South Australia. “We were all desperate to get the hell out of this country and that’s great if you’re a musician or someone in a position where you do travel a lot,” she said. “But Covid made me stop and think about how many people live and work in their towns. And I’m a bit of a hustler, and I miss that hustle of winning people over. “So I thought it would be super fun to try to go deep Australia and win the country over.”They have also had to manage the logistic challenges of taking a professional pop show into regional and rural towns, with the lighting and sound production scaled down from arena-size to fit into the regional theatres and halls. Other artists including Vance Joy and Guy Sebastian have gone outdoors with their upcoming tours, booking local showgrounds and sports fields for their regional runs. “Probably the best advice I was ever given is that touring is an investment and it does end up paying you back,” she said.“I put a lot of effort into what the show looks like and we are going to bring a show to these towns that will have people saying ‘Holy shit!’” The four-month tour is scheduled to kick off in Bunbury on May 19 and close at the Tank Arts Centre in Cairns on August 29, although it is likely the Shark team may find there are more towns offering their venues up for a show. While she is projected to sell 50,000 tickets, some lucky fans will get the chance to see Shark perform in a few “really tiny” venues on the regional run. “When my team were not sure about the really tiny venues, I told them that I used to play to eight men in a TAB who just wanted me out of the way so they could watch race eight at Randwick,” she said. “So I’m good; I’m not even one per cent of a diva.”The singer and songwriter is equally excited about playing tourist in her own backyard, having “seen more of America than my own country.” For details about all 42 dates and tickets, which go on sale from 10am on March 30, go to amyshark.com
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