‘Zero dollars and zero cents’: resourcefulness and DIY music scenes in rural and regional South Australia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of ‘resourcefulness’ in small rural and regional music scenes. Drawing on case study fieldwork and ethnographic research in Port Lincoln, South Australia, I demonstrate the practices and tactics employed by participants in Port Lincoln’s local music scene. This research highlights the capacity of these scenes to ‘make do’ and adapt to change and disruption, while also emphasizing their agency. While rural and regional communities are often praised for their resilience, this rhetoric also effectively relieves policymakers of any urgency in addressing a lack of infrastructure and declining populations. As a result, the music industries in rural and regional Australia must adapt to the limitations of their existing infrastructure, capitalizing instead on strong community bonds to sidestep traditional, capitalist music industry structures. Music scenes in these regions are therefore characterized by a strong, grassroots but often fragmented approach to music scene production.