Fanny Lumsden sweeps Golden Guitar Awards with five wins
With a swag of awards stemming from her third album Fallow, Fanny Lumsden has now well and truly established herself as a sharp and esteemed performer.
Fanny Lumsden has swept the annual celebration of excellence in Australian country music by winning five Golden Guitars from her seven nominations on Saturday night in Tamworth.
With a swag of awards stemming from her third release Fallow — including album of the year, female artist of the year, single of the year, video of the year and alt-country album of the year — Lumsden has now well and truly established herself as one of the genre’s sharpest and most esteemed performers.
An independent artist whose entire operation is run alongside her husband and creative collaborator Dan Stanley Freeman, Lumsden has been honing her craft for a decade. In recent years the pair has lived out of a caravan while clocking up tens of thousands of kilometres touring small towns and winning over fans show-by-show.
Even the arrival of their son in July 2018 didn’t slow them down much; they were back on the road when Walter was three weeks old. In effect, the couple has followed a trail blazed by the nation’s original country music power couple, Slim Dusty and Joy McKean, who began touring the backroads of regional Australia in 1954.
A year ago, the singer-songwriter and her family barely made it to Tamworth at all, having been caught up in the bushfires that devastated large tracts of NSW and narrowly missed their home on a farm near the village of Tooma, on the western side of the Snowy Mountains.
It was inside a stone hut on their property that they recorded Fallow, which was released on March 13 2020, effectively the day the Australian live music industry went into an extended hibernation as concerts began to be cancelled en masse due to the pandemic.
The timing of its release was unfortunate, but the enduring strength of the 12-song set shone through an otherwise dark year for many artists.
After doggedly working at the fringes of the country music industry since her debut album was released in 2015, Lumsden has now found herself at the centre of the conversation. There seems little doubt she and Freeman are here to stay.
Held at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre before a COVID-safe reduced crowd of about 600 industry members and music fans, the 2021 Golden Guitar Awards were hosted by singer-songwriters Andrew Swift and Catherine Britt.
Grafton-born sister trio The McClymonts was named group of the year and its sixth album Mayhem To Madness was contemporary country album of the year. Luke O’Shea took home traditional country album of the year for There In the Ochre and heritage song of the year for his collaboration with Kevin Bennett, Happy Australia Day.
Travis Collins was named male artist of the year, while new talent of the year went to singer-songwriter Melody Moko. The 50-year careers of John Williamson and The Bushwackers were acknowledged, while the latter act was announced as the 2021 inductees into the Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown.
With the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival cancelled in September due to COVID-19, the NSW city has been much quieter than usual this month, although about 80 ticketed concerts at 22 venues were still held in the lead-up to the Golden Guitars. All eyes now turn to the festival’s 50th anniversary, which will be held from January 14 to 23 next year.
2021 Golden Guitar Award Winners
Album of the Year: FALLOW
Fanny Lumsden | Producer: Matt Fell
Alt Country Album of the Year: FALLOW
Fanny Lumsden | Producer: Matt Fell
Contemporary Country Album of the Year: MAYHEM TO MADNESS
The McClymonts | Producer: Andy Mak
Traditional Country Album of the Year: THERE IN THE OCHRE
Luke O’Shea | Producer: Luke O’Shea
Male Artist of the Year: TRAVIS COLLINS
Wreck Me
Female Artist of the Year: FANNY LUMSDEN
Fallow
Group or Duo of the Year: THE MCCLYMONTS
Mayhem To Madness
Vocal Collaboration of the Year: AMBER LAWRENCE, ALEYCE SIMMONDS, KIRSTY LEE AKERS, DIANNA CORCORAN
True Blue
Bush Ballad of the Year: SIX DECKS TO DARWIN
Dean Perrett | Songwriters: Dean Perrett, Kelly & Marion Dixon, Ryan Garland
Heritage Song of the Year: HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY
Luke O’Shea & Kevin Bennett | Songwriters: Luke O’Shea, Kevin Bennett
Instrumental of the Year: PRELUDE
The Weeping Willows
Bluegrass Recording of the Year: FINGER PICKING GOOD (feat Tommy Emmanuel CGP)
Kristy Cox
New Talent of the Year: MELODY MOKO
Like Hank Would
Song of the Year: THE HIGH PRICE OF SURVIVING
Shane Nicholson | Songwriters: Shane Nicholson, Leyon Milner
Video of the Year: MOUNTAIN SONG/THIS TOO SHALL PASS
Fanny Lumsden | Directors: Fanny Lumsden & Dan Stanley Freeman
Single of the Year: FIERCE
Fanny Lumsden
Top Selling Album of the Year:
THE SPEED OF NOW Part 1 | Keith Urban
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