{"id":618081,"date":"2026-04-20T00:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T00:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618081\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T00:01:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T00:01:17","slug":"touring-artists-wind-back-shows-as-fuel-crisis-bites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618081\/","title":{"rendered":"Touring artists wind back shows as fuel crisis bites"},"content":{"rendered":"

WA country music artist Adele Oliver has only ever expected to break even to cover her costs when touring.<\/p>\n

But the last gig of her recent tour \u2014 which covered a total of 1,800 kilometres over eight dates \u2014 cost her money due to the escalating price of fuel.<\/p>\n

“Now I would not be able to make an income being on the road,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s probably never been a great career choice, but now more than ever.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Broome-based singer songwriter estimates half the income from her latest gig went to fuel alone. (Supplied: Adele Oliver)<\/p>\n

She said there was a strong feeling of uncertainty among touring artists, and she was now looking for other work to supplement her income.<\/p>\n

“I’m sort of not thinking to re-book anything for the immediate future,” she said.Remote venues look local<\/p>\n

She’s not alone.<\/p>\n

Esperance booking company owner Kyron Smithson said fuel costs meant locals could expect fewer visits from touring artists and more gigs by local artists.<\/p>\n

“It’s already a stressful life, so the more pressure you put on that \u2026 well there’s just going to be less people moving around.”<\/p>\n

He has been trying to book multiple shows for touring artists visiting Esperance and negotiating higher prices to cover costs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kyron Smithson, pictured performing, says if they are able, venues should help cover the costs of fuel for touring artists. (Supplied: Kyron Smithson)<\/p>\n

Townsville-based street artist Garth Jankovic, who has spent 20 years painting murals in remote locations, is also adapting to make touring more viable.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

For years, street artist Garth Jankovic has travelled to remote communities. (Supplied: Garth Jankovic)<\/p>\n

He said there were real concerns about getting stuck on the road with fuel supplies uncertain.<\/p>\n

“It’s also about safety, about getting places and that you might not necessarily be able to get back [from],” he said.<\/p>\n

Arts ‘needed more than ever’<\/p>\n

Mr Jankovic, who works in remote places such as Doomadgee, Tennant Creek and Palm Island, said he would need to be savvy as corporations start to pull back on arts funding.<\/p>\n

“It’s a bit of a matter of survival \u2026 I’ve got to try and stay ahead, one step ahead,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Garth Jancovic says art is needed to uplift communities now more than ever. (Supplied: Garth Jankovic.)<\/p>\n

This would involve planning multiple jobs on long trips, travelling the outback in winter to reduce air-conditioning use, and prioritising local jobs.<\/p>\n

“When the whole of society seems to sometimes take a little bit of a downturn, it’s actually the arts, I believe, we need more than anything else,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Garth Jankovic teaches art programs at remote schools. (Supplied: Garth Jankovic)<\/p>\n

“But ironically it’s usually the first thing that gets cut.<\/p>\n

“Now more than ever you need the arts to uplift people’s spirits.”<\/p>\n

Arts on the brink<\/p>\n

Ms Oliver said the challenges of regional touring would be felt across the entire industry.<\/p>\n

“You can see the slower nature of ticket sales, you’ve started to see people rein in their spending,” she said.<\/p>\n

Mr Smithson said audiences would miss out on seeing bigger acts and opportunities for emerging regional artists would be limited if touring became more restrictive.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mr Jankovic’s mural in the Queensland town of Aurukun inspires hope. (Supplied: Garth Jankovic)<\/p>\n

“If they drop off their touring, that definitely has an impact, people don’t get to see stuff outside of the norm,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They don’t have those artists to see to inspire them, to drive them to create.”<\/p>\n

More quick-turnaround touring grants would help, he said.<\/p>\n

A Creative Australia spokesperson said the arts funding and advisory body was aware of the pressures rising costs were having on artists and arts organisations and was monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WA country music artist Adele Oliver has only ever expected to break even to cover her costs when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[39629,299716,54543,64,63,447,6982,260914,134,130870,35076,30888,36005,130869,162471,130935,299715],"class_list":{"0":"post-618081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-artists","9":"tag-arts-funding","10":"tag-arts-industry","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-celebrities","14":"tag-country-music","15":"tag-diesel-prices","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-fuel-prices","18":"tag-local-music","19":"tag-music-industry","20":"tag-musicians","21":"tag-petrol-prices","22":"tag-regional-festivals","23":"tag-ticket-prices","24":"tag-touring-musicians"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}