Amy Shark may be an ARIA award-winning singer songwriter but she won't let her stardom contain her to the big smoke.
After the first round of dates for her 'See You Somewhere in Australia' tour sold out in Bunbury and Margaret River, she added extra shows.
Amy burst onto the global music scene in 2016, when her 6x Platinum single Adore put her on the map as one of Australia's most formidable emerging songwriters.
No stranger to Bunbury, Amy played her first WA show at Groove in the Moo in 2017, where she fell in love with playing in regional towns.
"I was only just starting out and it was the best show by far," she said.
Amy's accolades have been as prolific as her creative output, winning the APRA Song of the Year with chart topper I Said Hi and the 2019 single, Mess Her Up.
After two years of COVID-19 halting festivals and live music, Amy said she was apprehensive about how her tour would be received, and was blown away by the response in regional areas.
"I was scared. You just don't know who you're connecting with," she said.
"The fact that we sold out and the fact that we've added some more shows in regional parts of Australia, it's wild. It's so crazy."
The tour will see Amy perform across 42 locations from May to August, bringing her Cry Forever and Love Monster albums to regional fans.
It includes stops in 10 regional WA towns, from Esperance to Broome, supported by Perth band, Dulcie.
Amy said she was having a discussion about Paul Kelly when she realised she wanted to bring her shows to more regional towns.
"I was just saying, he just seems to always be on tour. And my managers are like, yeah, because he's just known all around the country."
"I'm like, we should do something like that."
Despite the fact that small towns usually only have small venues, Amy said she was determined to bring music to the regions to win over the hearts of people all over Australia.
"Everyone was saying, there's no big venues and they're small towns," she said.
"I played for 15 years to like, nobody. I'd have three or four people in a dingy TAB. Not caring what I was doing."
"As long as I'm out there trying to try to win some more people over, that's all anyone wants to be a musician for."
Amy said the tour was going to be a challenge with little rest time between most of the 65 shows.
During a short break in Margaret River, she said she plans to hit a winery and explore areas she hasn't been to yet.
"I can't wait to sculpt little moments where I can get out and go and see Bunbury and Margaret River," she said.
"It's a huge challenge, but I like being the first to some things and I don't know how many other solo pop artists have gone out to regional parts for four straight months."
Amy said she couldn't wait to see which songs people in different towns connected with most, with often big differences between the songs loved by cities and rural towns.
"It will blow your mind if you see the difference. One song will just go mental at one place".
Amy said anyone interested in seeing her should come to her shows while she's visiting, because she may not be able to visit so many regional towns again in the future.
"After 65 shows, this could be the last time for really long time where I'll be playing down the road from you, and you won't have to travel to a major city."
"If you have nothing on on the night that I'm in your town, you have no excuse. This is wild. And I'm going to have a bet with you that I can win you over."
Amy Shark will play the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on Wednesday May 18 (sold out) and Thursday May 19.
Also playing at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on Friday May 20, The River Hotel in Margaret River on Saturday May 21 (sold out) and Sunday May 22.
Tickets are on sale now from www.amyshark.com
