Lilith still relevent: Sarah McLachlan

Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan says women are still vastly under-represented in music despite the likes of Rihanna and Lady Gaga topping the charts.

The balladeering star brings an abridged version of her world famous Lilith Festival to Australia in October, the first time the female-only festival tour has been staged outside north America.

Dixie Chicks spin-off Court Yard Hounds and local acts Kate Miller-Heidke and The Verses will join her for five concerts, and McLachlan is adamant Lilith's message remains as relevant today as its girl-power heyday of the late '90s.

"People say there's no need for Lilith Fair any more but there's still a lot of inequality " she told AAP from Vancouver.

"There's still one woman for every 20 men on the radio, so yes the top 40 is maybe near to half half, but there are still many formats in music where women are much less represented."

Lilith Festival was founded in 1997 after McLachlan became frustrated with concert promoters and radio stations which refused to feature two female musicians in a row.

"I'd just toured with a group of women and enjoyed it, so I thought we should just bring a whole bunch together and put on a show and piss people off," she remembers.

"People said 'you can't do that, no one will come'."

Lilith went on to become the top-grossing touring festival of the year, generating an unprecedented momentum over three summers and raising more than $US10 million for women's charities.

Sheryl Crow, Sinead O'Connor, Tracey Chapman, Suzanne Vega and Queen Latifah were among the hundreds of female stars to give the festival its voice.

"Its success was purely because of the fact so many artists got involved," admitted Mclachlan.

Following a decade's hiatus, Lilith returned to American cities earlier this year but was hampered by a series of knock backs.

Artists like Rihanna and La Roux pulled out and concerts were cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

McLachlan denies the tour was a failure and says all the artists forced to pull out did so for the right reasons.

"Rihanna had to drop out because Salt Lake City was cancelled, La Roux was struck down with laryngitis, Serena Gomez was told by doctors not to get out of bed and Carly Simon broke her foot," she revealed.

"What can you do? Shit happens but I had such a profoundly joyful time on the road a real sense of inclusivity and being part of something that's far bigger than myself.

"There was lot of noise and stink about bad ticket sales but everyone had a great time and there was an amazing vibe and some great music."

A Taste Of Lilith will feature Sarah McLachlan, Court Yard Hounds, Kate Miller-Heidke and The Verses on the following dates.

Monday 4 October - Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Friday 8 October - One Movement for Music, by Twilight, Perth

Sunday 10 October - Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre

Tuesday, 12 October - Palais Theatre, Melbourne

Saturday 16 October - Convention Centre, Brisbane