FANNY Lumsden and her band The Pack are taking acclaimed album Fallow on the road for its last hurrah.
After its wobbly start in 2020, thanks to a global pandemic, it went on to win an incredible list of accolades including the ARIA for best country album, five Golden Guitar awards, and a spot in the AMP Awards top nine Australian Albums of 2020.
Not bad for an album recorded in Lumsden's stone hut in Tooma, in the Snowy Mountains. She's still on a high following its success.
"We were talking about how the winning Tidy Towns have their signs up until the end of time, you know, 'Tidy Town of the Year 1994, go on, you wave that flag' and I was like, 'I'm gonna wave this flag as long as I can'," she said.
Lumsden is a force to be reckoned with on stage and off. She's intelligent, down-to-earth, self-deprecating, and has a great sense of humour. We share a laugh about a Tweet she posted about agonising over which public toilet cubicle to use, as she nursed one son while watching the other ride his bike along a Tamworth street.
"I think we all go through the same thought process, and then all end up choosing the same cubicle. And then I spend the whole time thinking about that while I'm on the toilet," she said.
Lumsden is also an incredible songwriting talent with a voice that does justice to her lyrics. She has just released Fallow + Variations, a new version of the album.
"We recorded it again and, instead of doing an acoustic version of the album, we went ahead and made all of the songs differently," she said. "It was a lot of fun exploring the songs further without the pressure of having to make the right choice; to make it perfect.
"On Dig, for example, we used a horn section and drums to sound like a ramshackle marching band."
She has just finished a stint supporting Paul Kelly throughout regional Australia as well as celebrating 10 years of her own touring brand, The Country Halls Tour, and is looking forward to sharing the stories, harmonies and musicianship of Fallow with audiences.
She and her band will be joined on the tour by special guest Jenny Mitchell, an award-winning New Zealand songwriter and storyteller who is poised to release a new album called Tug of War.
"It's so great to be back on the road performing Fallow because we couldn't perform it live when we released it," Lumsden said. "I love my band. They are all excellent players and we all like to have fun."
She's had a lot of time to write in recent months, having had gigs cancelled due to COVID in 2021.
"I also had a baby in that time," she said. "I've had lots of time to write and we'll have new music out by the end of the year."
Fanny Lumsden plays the Boots & Beach Festival in Port Macquarie on May 28 and Lizotte's on July 14.
