Great Southern Nights festival of music kicks off on Friday night, launching into a three-week celebration of live music in hundreds of venues across New South Wales (NSW). This year’s event will see a star-studded line-up, including Amy Shark, Alex Lahey, Archie Roach, Ball Park Music, Client Liason, and Jimmy Barnes, playing at venues such as the Civic Theatre in Wagga Wagga, the Cambridge Hotel in Newcastle, Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, and Enmore Theatre in Sydney. The event launched in November 2020, with over 1,000 COVID-safe gigs from more than 2,500 artists taking place across NSW, but was cancelled in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW, Paul Toole, said that “getting the show back on the road would help put the beat back into our regional communities.” “Many of the Great Southern Nights gigs will be staged across regional NSW, which will be …