Her original track 'Thunder', an ethereal and soulful modern piano ballad, was released through Moyne FreeZA, all thanks to a pop-up music studio opportunity at the start of the year.

Now the song has been sent to Universal Music, and she's set to play gigs across the region.

There's a new push calling on the Victorian government to further fund FreeZA for the next generation of young music makers, audiences and creative industry professionals like Maudie.

"I wrote Thunder last year sometime, I sat down at the piano and put chords together that sounded nice," Maudie, 18, said.

"I was feeling a lot of pent up emotion at the time so wrote a song about how I was feeling in terms of wanting to release emotions and be really loud about it.

"I kept chipping away at it, I'd only played it to my music teacher but when I heard about the FreeZA recording studio it was so cool - first of all have someone other than my family to play my song to, and being able to workshop it with Cam Deyell which was really cool.

"Being able to perform it live was the coolest thing ever.

"That couldn't have happened without the program which sounds cheesy but there's no way I could get to that point on my own.

"I feel like my original reaction was how is this all free? How is this happening? It's too good to be true.

"It's such an important idea especially when I saw all the other people participating - people younger than me. It's such a cool concept especially because maybe not as much funding goes into the arts, especially in regional areas."

She was one of 16 acts that performed in Port Fairy on Easter Sunday as part of the Moyne Sessions.

"It was so cool I literally felt like Taylor Swift, I got to talk to the audience which was so much fun. It genuinely made me consider that is something I could do more often.

"It makes music seem like a more realistic thing for kids in the country and could keep people in country areas."

Since January 32 young people from across the region have been involved in the Moyne Sessions.

Moyne FreeZA community planning officer Rebecca Elmes said it was all about providing young artists with opportunities and career development pathways.

"The sessions have been a way to provide pathways, particularly for rural young people who are limited to what they can access," she said.

"Unlike in places like Melbourne, the cost for opportunities is really prohibitive out here.

"Young people were saying that's what they wanted and needed locally."

The young people have been connected with producers, artists and agents through the sessions, including producer Cameron Deyell who worked with Sia on her award-winning album.

The product has been astonishing.

"We've really focused on young people and original music," Ms Elmes said.

"Now we're focusing on how to provide further development for them.

"The young people need experience getting out and playing live gigs.

"For a lot of them this has been their first gig and the feedback has been amazing.

"From an arts perspective, particularly in rural regional areas, there's so many opportunities for young people to be involved in sports.

"It's these young people interested in the arts that get left behind because they don't have the same opportunity and access.

"Without funding to support these programs where do these young people go?"

"It's important that there's opportunities for all young people in different areas."

The ultimate goal is to retain young people in regional areas.

"We need to give them the reason and opportunity to stay here."

Moyne FreeZA is seeking further funding, and back new calls from Australian youth music organisation The Push and Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic) to increase funding to the program.

More than two million young people have had their first live music experience through FreeZA since it began in 1996.

It provides young Victorians aged 12 to 25 from all socio-economic, cultural backgrounds and abilities in metropolitan, regional and rural Victoria opportunities to stage and attend live music events that are drug, alcohol and smoke-free in supervised and safe venues.

The program has not had an increase in funding for more than a decade.

To respond to this, organisations are urging the state government to increase its investment in the program to $5.6m annually over the next four years, and to evolve the program to reflect changes in technology and youth culture.

YACVic chief executive Katherine Ellis said many communities rely on programs like FReeZA to empower young people to design, lead and participate in events, entertainment and music in their local community.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how important community connection, creative expression and gaining industry skills are for young people."

She said with this level of investment, reflective of current event and program costs, FReeZA will be able to build on its annual reach and impact to include more opportunities for young audiences to access fully supervised, all-ages live music events.

It will also increase paid employment and engagement of music industry practitioners, increase live performance opportunities, give greater resources to youth workers to support young people and give young people opportunities to be employed across the program.

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