Doing his part to keep Ballarat live music venues alive, country singer Henry Wagons is back in town.
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Off the back of his album launch, Wagons told The Courier he was keen to get back to regional venues.
"Those regional stopovers that used to be a real regular part of touring, just seem to have fallen by the wayside now," Henry Wagons told The Courier.
"I really missed it on my last tour earlier in the year."
Wagons said it has also taken people a while to come back to live music.
"I feel like going to see live music is more of a sort of niche and a wild thing to do in this 'Netflix and chill' zone that we've found ourselves in," he said.
"Everyone can make a cocktail and a good coffee now, everyone can bake bread, so it's harder and harder to find a reason to leave home."
With Ballarat "only just a drive up the highway," Wagons and his support act Leroy Macqueen will be in town this weekend ahead of their performance at Volta on Saturday August 5.
Keeping live music venues booked has been one of the challenges post COVID-19 as the industry continues working on recovery.
Insurance hikes are one of the issues holding back venues, with places like Volta seeing an increase in bills up to 300 per cent.
Wagons hoped people can be reminded of how it feels to listen to live music.
"How euphoric it is to feel the sound hit your shirt, to feel the sticky carpet against your soles."
Wagons is on his second tour for this latest album released in February titled South Of Everywhere.
He describes the album as a "COVID-19 aftermath" taking inspiration from Australia.
"I go to Nashville a lot and I've been guilty of kind of looking at the Country Music Mecca and the American south for a lot of song inspiration," he said.
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"But spending time at home, walking through the park with my wife and daughter and dogs, kind of grounded me."
Drawing inspirations from his backyard and remembering stories from the past are a key part of the album.
"I started singing about the streets around me," Wagons said.
"There's a story that takes place in Dover, Tasmania, which was one of the stops on my very first interstate tour 15 to 16 years ago."
Tickets are still available for the performance on Saturday on August 5 at 7.30pm.
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