A sibling relationship between Adelaide and Austin sprang from the fact both Texas and South Australia celebrated their sesquicentenary together in 1986.

With a metropolitan population of 1,057,000, the Texas capital has more than a passing resemblance to Adelaide. It’s a higher learning hub – a college town – home of the University of Texas, one of the most prestigious public universities in the US.

It’s also home to the iconic PBS musical showcase Austin City Limits, which in 2002 spawned an annual festival that garners worldwide attention, and has now inspired politicians in Austin’s antipodean sister city to sit up and take notice.

“It’s a huge boost to the economy (and) a fantastic model to pursue,” says Labor MLC John Gazzola.

“(Austin) started attracting young people and investing in the culture and places to go, and it pays dividends. The festival has had about 2 million punters through the gate, and only about 20 arrests over 12 years.”

Gazzola has been hand-picked by Premier Jay Weatherill to devise a blueprint for rejuvenating Adelaide’s flagging music scene.

The gig’s no mere sweetener for the long-serving MP and one-time Australian Services Union secretary, who was unceremoniously dumped as Upper House president last year. In a life before politics, Gazzola was the drummer for local outfit The Units (so named because “in those days you’d drink a ‘unit’ of beer”).

“With my background I knew the people to go and talk to to make it happen,” says Gazzola.

He’s canvassed far and wide, and is liaising with Weatherill and Attorney-General John Rau who, as InDaily revealed last week, is reviewing options to establish a regulatory and legislative environment that allows live music to flourish.

Ian Horne, general manager of the SA Australian Hotels Association, says the major impediment is the requirement of “entertainment consent” that ensures venues are at the behest of local residents.

“It’s a ridiculous barrier … the Belgian Beer Café (on Ebenezer Place, off Rundle St) is licensed for a harp or didgeridoo but no drums; it’s absolute nonsense,” says Horne.

“Others can have folk music but not Country & Western … it’s there in black and white.”

Horne says while hotels remain the primary employer of live musicians, many venues have distanced themselves from the music scene or downgraded their involvement “simply because of the hassles of complaints and problems with residents”.

He says while the licensing act requires 10 residents to make a formal complaint, the liquor commission has discretion to consider just one, so in practice “one resident can make the provision of live music very complicated”. The AHA is working with the industry to provide a submission to Government.

“We strongly support removing the requirement for entertainment consent,” says Horne.

“There’s a generation of licensees and operators who don’t have a lot of experience with (live music) … We’re delighted John’s involved, as he’s a baby-boomer rocker from way back.”

Long before he sat in the Legislative Council president’s chair, John Gazzola was a drummer for The Units. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

Indeed, Gazzola speaks with a wistfulness about Adelaide’s 1970s music scene, something akin to a muso’s version of Melbourne’s Pram Factory hub that heralded a generational arts renaissance, nourishing thespians like Graeme Blundell and playwrights such as David Williamson.

“When we were starting out I approached a number of hotels back then and basically said: ‘Have you got a room that holds 200 people?’,” he recalls.

“It was just a bunch of musos putting together their own shows in pubs that would normally close on a Saturday night (so) the publicans were very happy.”

They later caught the eye of emerging ensemble Mental As Anything, who enticed them over to Sydney, but The Units eventually disbanded with only a vinyl single to their name (“My Mum’s got the last thousand copies under her bed,” Gazzola jokes).

He says the onset of pokies hastened the industry’s decline but firmly believes now “people are looking for something a bit different”.

“There’s some great kids playing some great music, and I see it as a career,” he says.

“It’s not just about getting up there and being the next bunch of Hilltop Hoods; you may end up being a terrific songwriter or producer.”

For Gazzola, fostering these pathways is all about ensconcing Adelaide on the cultural map, cashing in on laudable but transient fillips such as appearing on the New York Times list of “52 Places To Visit in 2015”.

“It’s okay to be one of the destinations to go to, but your fame only lasts fifteen minutes: we’ve got to capitalise on it,” he says.

That appears likely to involve, like our Texan sibling, “tapping into that festival market” and becoming “recognised as a centre of excellence”. But it also means changing the framework that governs how working musicians ply their trade. Gazzola believes the State Government can drive that process “in consultation with local government”.

“When you have a look at an economy in transformation, you’re always looking for new industry and new jobs; have a look at places like Newcastle and Geelong, that are facing the same challenges as we are,” he argues.

“It makes sense to explore these areas that could give rise to new employment and new opportunities.”

The keywords, then, echo that Weatherill mantra, as yet still more aspirational than attainable: it’s all about jobs and vibrancy.

Or as Gazzola frames it: “The significant fear is if you start to ignore cultural pursuits you end up with a dead heart.”