A month ago, I was sitting in the driver’s seat of a car, shivering and chuckling in equal measure, changing from jeans and thermals into a velvet, forest-green gown with sweep train made by Calèche. Pianist-goddess Kate Johnson was occupying the back seat for the same purpose, both of us seeing the funny side of wrestling with layers of clothing in freezing temperatures.

Greta Bradman and Kate Johnson

It’s eight shows into a 16-concert tour across regional and metropolitan Australia and we’ve hit the coldest and – while the church is utterly beautiful – humblest backstage conditions yet, which has relegated preparations to the car. At times like this I relish the phrase “think of the stories”. It’s my fifth self-produced regional tour, although for the last two I’ve had help from Universal Music Australia, who came on board as I wanted to show them how tours can both support albums and artists.

With planning and a relatively small amount of capital to begin, it is possible to self-produce small to medium regional tours. But why bother? These tours are a unique proposition; they don’t sit...