Musicians on the South Coast are getting a wonderful opportunity to learn the craft of songwriting when The Regional Sessions comes to Kiama for the first time on Monday.

Run by music rights management organisation APRA AMCOS, with support from Sound NSW, the one-day event brings keynote speakers, workshops, panel discussions, live performances and networking opportunities to songwriters, producers and composers of all abilities.

There are five being held in regional NSW, kicking off with Bega and Broken Hill earlier this week with Kiama followed by Port Macquarie next Wednesday and Lennox Head on 21 February.

An eclectic mix of musicians will be workshop mentors at the Kiama event at The Pavilion which will culminate with an evening performance at The Grand Hotel.

Elana Stone is a double ARIA Award-winning singer, songwriter and instrumentalist celebrated for her inventive blend of folk, electronica, indie pop, and balladry who has produced four acclaimed solo albums and performed widely with Missy Higgins and the John Butler Trio.

Bec Sandridge is a queer-pop shapeshifter who has been performing for more than a decade and is known for her striking black-and-white hair and a voice reminiscent of David Byrne and Kate Bush.

Wiradjuri artist Zeppelin Hamilton is a member of Velvet Trip, a psychedelic-pop band which blends psych-rock, soul, and indie-pop into a rich, genre-defying sound.

Zeadala is a singer-songwriter of Thai/Iraqi heritage who has performed locally and internationally since 2015, exploring themes of social justice and healing through knowledge of self.

The Regional Sessions have been held in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia over the past five years and previous mentors have included Ben Lee, Powderfinger guitarist Darren Middleton, Jem Cassar-Daley, KLP, Mo’Ju and Oscar Dawson.

Chris O’Neill, director of creative programs at APRA AMCOS, said the Regional Sessions provided multiple benefits to local musicians.

“The purpose of the day is to allow local songwriters an opportunity to firstly meet each other in the local region,” he said.

“What we've seen is that many times we've hosted these events and people have lived in a local town for a long time and not yet met all of their songwriting counterparts.

“We're bringing in some really incredible songwriters for them to share their approach to songwriting and give local songwriters a better understanding of how they write, how they collaborate with other people.

“So the idea is for local songwriters to really walk out of that room connected with each other but also armed with new songwriting skills.

”There's a real appetite for local songwriters to learn from other people from outside of their area and what we’ve found is that it just has such a great community building element to it.

“That's often something that can lack in regional areas - community is really important in regional areas and particularly around the South Coast, we're seeing such incredible bands come out of that area.”

At the end of the all-day workshop, the participants and mentors will kick on to The Grand to put together a free live performance for members of the public from 5.30pm onwards.