The 500 Miles Of Music is a travelling roadshow across South Australia featuring five shows across six days (next month) starting in Wombat Flat and finishing in William Creek.
Artists performing along the way are: Kasey Chambers, Bill Chambers, Gina Jeffreys, Adam Harvey, Travis Collins, Felicity Urquhart, Amber Lawrence, Brad Butcher, Rod McCormack and many more.Event organiser, John Simpson tells us how it all started. "I love the SA outback and regularly visit the small town north of my home here in Quorn.
"I love working in live music, so it just seemed like a great plan to create a show that I could move from town to town and get people to spend money in these places – so they keep going."
After the success of the first 500 Miles event in 2019, everything was set in stone for the follow-up in 2020 before the pandemic set in. How did you cope with the loss after such a strong start?
[John] It was a real blow for sure. We held out as a long as we could before throwing in the towel.
We offered everyone refunds or they could reuse their tickets for 2021. We had very few requests for a refund, which shows us that people really wanted to go and were willing to wait it out until we could run it again.
We did have one bonus through the pandemic, and that was some extra funds came through – this helped us secure one of country music's royalty ladies, Kasey Chambers, for this year.
You have some of the biggest Australian country music hard-hitters on the bill; everyone from Kasey to Gina Jeffreys, Adam Harvey, Travis Collins, and Felicity Urquhart through to some exciting emerging acts. How important is it to bring the music to the people in these rural areas in such hard times?
I feel it's very important, not only for the economic benefit in these tiny places, but also for moral support and mental health.
People in these areas need entertainment and although they do create some great events in the way of gymkhanas etc. other than 500 Miles Of Music, there is nothing of a music touring show of this scale in the outback.
These events bring people together, they all get to chat, have a laugh with their mates, just such an important thing to have. Everyone would need to travel to the major regional centres to see these acts with their full bands, some artists do the small venues with a duo-act setup, but nothing beats the full band, large PA, all the lights and stage.
The Roadshow kicks off from Wombat Flat and runs to William Creek; what are some of the sights we should check out on our travels between venues?
Some key must-see places would have to be: Burra – great history and a great self-guided tour of old buildings, including the gaol that was used in the film 'Breaker Morant'. Then just outside of Burra is the legendary house that was used on the cover of Midnight Oil's 'Diesel And Dust' album.
When you get to the Flinders Ranges, there is so much to see, but in Wilmington where show #2 is, the toy museum is a must for any kid, big and small. Then from Wilmington on the way to Leigh Creek, we have Quorn, home of the Pichi Richi Railway, the steam train should be running – it's worth a look for sure, and a ride as well if you like.
As you head further north, Hawker in the next town and the Wilpena Panorama is just outstanding and a must visit; this is no ordinary gallery (bonus for ticket holders is they get a discount on the entry to the Panorama).
Leigh Creek is our next stop, and likely to be the biggest show as this is where all the heavy hitters are playing. One thing about Leigh Creek that people do not realise is the abundance of water at the nearby Aroona Dam; this place is just spectacular; you can even fish in there – it's well stocked I'm told.
We have a day off after Leigh Creek, mostly for the travel time for the crew to get to William Creek, but it leaves plenty of time for everyone else to check out some great sights along the way.
Copley needs to be the breakfast stop as the bakery there is just outstanding, then onward to Lyndhurst and the town of Talc Alf; this is worth a visit with some great carvings and interesting stories. Farina is likely to be the next place and a visit to the underground bakery is a definite.
From there, it's on to Marree. The Marree Hotel has a great museum room dedicated to the outback mail man Tom Kruse. The Oodnadatta Track is the next bit of road to tackle – there are many interesting places to see along the way here, all well signposted and worth the time to stop before getting to the final location of William Creek.
Dolly's Dream is a widely recognised foundation in support of raising awareness of the seriousness of anti-bullying; and 500 Miles of Music is proudly backing the foundation this year. We hear you'll be raising funds towards its cause by auctioning off five guitars, signed by the artists. Is this true?
Yes. Derringers Music in Adelaide has kindly donated five guitars and bags for this great cause. At each event we will have the artists that are there sign one of the guitars and we will hold a silent auction on the night.
While international travel is not happening at present, people are looking to get away and explore more of their own backyard – why should they road trip to South Australia for 500 Miles?
Well, because SA would have to have the most diverse country in Oz. It's the real Australian outback where we end up, yet it's totally accessible.
The William Creek Hotel has to be the most remote pub on the planet, so why not hit the road and explore these places. We believe we have the best Aussie country music talent that all ages will love on this roadshow; even if people are not huge country music fans, the travel and shows will likely convert many people (it did in 2019 with many saying they only came on the night as they had nothing better to do, but after the show they all bought CDs and told me how much they enjoyed it, even though country music was not their first choice in music).
The 500 Miles Of Music 2021 Line-up
Kasey ChambersTravis Collins
Gina Jeffreys
Adam Harvey
Amber Lawrence
Felicity Urquhart
Rod McCormack
Brad Butcher
Bill Chambers
Kelly Brouhaha
Matt James
Rosie Roberts
Kelly Menhennett
Andy Toombs
Michaela Jenke
Reg Dodd
John O'Dea
The 500 Miles Of Music 2021 Tour Dates
Fri 25 Jun - The Barn @ Wombat FlatSat 26 Jun - Wilmington Rodeo Grounds
Sun 27 Jun - Leigh Creek Oval
29-30 Jun - William Creek Hotel
