It used to be that visiting musicians were buttonholed as soon as they got off the plane by eager reporters keen to know what they thought of Australia. These days, they just get thrown in the slammer.

That, at least, was the fate that befell American indie artist Colleen Green, whose Australian tour has been called off following her detention and deportation by immigration and border control officers in Melbourne.

"Emotional, exhausting and tumultuous": US indie artist Colleen Green says she was detained and deported by Australian immigration officials. Credit:Nathanael Cooper

Green had been scheduled to kick off her short Australian tour in Byron Bay on Friday night, with gigs in Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong and Melbourne to follow, before winding up the tour with a show in Ballarat on Sunday September 10. Alas, it was not to be.

Green posted about her experience on Facebook on Friday afternoon, describing the past few days since leaving Los Angeles as "emotional, exhausting, and tumultuous".