Pilbeam crowd thrilled to the twangy stylings of Golden Guitar Lumsden and her “Steve Irwin lookalike” band

ARIA Award-winning Fallow album writer Lumsden will return to Central Queensland in August as part of her Country Hall tours

The good news for Central Queenslanders who fell in love with Fanny Lumsden on Tuesday evening is she and her ‘Prawn Stars’ will be back in town mid-August.

The ARIA award-winning artist opened for Paul Kelly on the Rockhampton leg of his On the Road Again tour, a gig she described as “the bucket list of bucket lists”.

Fanny, AKA Edwina Lumsden, was clearly starstruck to play on the same stage as her songwriting idol, but judging by the merchandise rush after her half-hour set, she and her band have found a following in CQ.

She and her husband Dan – she joyfully announced during the Rockhampton gig they’re “fully up the duff” – are bringing their Country Halls tour to Ridgelands on August 20.

Fanny was joined on the Pilbeam stage by Dan and two other musicians, rounding out her folksy lilting voice with three-part harmonies and three guitars at times.

While her vocals and their musical skills are dead set serious, their songs tend towards the lighthearted, with such twangy numbers as Peed in the Pool.

The levity of such lyrics are heightened by the Prawn Stars who are styled to look like park rangers or the guys who do the mowing down the caravan park.

It’s the title track of her latest album Fallow though, which won Best Country awards at the 2021 ARIAs, which drove home to the audience Lumsden’s genuine country credentials.

(Due to Covid, the duo accepted the award in a paddock behind their Snowy Mountains home where they wrote and recorded the album in a stone hut.)

She sings about the impact of drought and fire for people who forge a precarious life on the land – “all that’s borrowed and never owned” – which made her, after all, the perfect choice of support act to open for Paul Kelly.

It was magical to see her and the Prawn Stars join Paul Kelly, his band and back-up singers Vika and Linda on the stage for a final farewell to the Pilbeam crowd after such a toe-tapping show.

Local music lovers who packed out the Pilbeam to see Paul Kelly have found a firm new favourite in Fanny Lumsden and the Prawn Stars.

Get in quick to buy both VIP and general admission tickets for the August 20 Ridgelands show here.