With a hunger for the red dirt of her song-writing roots, Canowindra-based singer-songwriter Nerida Cuddy is heading west on her Strength of Stories Tour 2024.

A natural story-teller, Nerida’s life in regional Australia has inspired her to tell the tales of lives and landscapes in her original songs for over 30 years.

In this tour, she’s favouring small regional communities like her own.

After a big start in Dubbo, Nerida headed to Coonabarabran on Friday 15 March and yesterday was in Wee Waa for a private performance.

This Friday will see her at the Back o Bourke Gallery, followed by The Marra Hall (Saturday 23 March) and a fundraiser at Coonamble's Plaza Theatre on Sunday 24 March.

Outback Arts Executive Director Jamie-Lea Trindall says Nerida's concerts are fun and engaging, offering generous insight into themes and experiences we can all relate to.

"There may not be a get-up-and-dance kind of vibe but you might find yourself singing along at times," Mrs Trindall said.

"It's more like an invitation to slow down, to breathe deeply, to celebrate life and community in the bush and to see afresh the beauty and resilience of our land and the lives lived on it.

"So of course, there will also be time and space during the concert to catch up with friends over a cuppa or some BYO food and drink."

Originally from Sydney, Nerida fled to Bourke at the age of 17 for a couple of years in the bush; then after four years of university, she took off from the city again to start teaching out in Broken Hill.

She has loved living in the beautiful historic small town of Canowindra for the last 22 years; but Nerida says it's the red dirt and big skies of western NSW and outback Australia that she loves the most, so she decided it was time for a tour to get her feet onto that country again.

Described as “a central west Mary Black”, Nerida loves performing live, but has also greatly enjoyed the chance to find a much larger audience via zoom & Youtube since 2020.

IMAGE: The Folk Federation of NSW

In 2021, her fifth album, Woven, was released.

She has performed throughout the central west, featuring in Arts OutWest's covid album in 2021 and their artist recovery concerts in 2022.

Nerida has played in folk clubs and festivals in NSW and Victoria, and enjoyed her first UK tour in 2023.

Tickets for any of the western plains shows are available through Humanitix Strength of Stories Tour 2024.