IT WASN'T all glitz and glam, but rather back to the mountains where it all began for country music's golden girl Fanny Lumsden, on the night of the iconic ARIA Awards last week.
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The musical wonder set up her red carpet, livestream screen and party of supporters in the luscious landscape surrounding her home, overlooking the isolated stone hut where her masterpiece Fallow came to life.
The ARIA Awards were virtual this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Lumsden said it was special to share the moment with friends and family at her home.
The singing and songwriting sensation beat out industry royalty to win the ARIA Award for Best Country Album, for her record Fallow.
"It is really overwhelming and I really just can't believe it," she told the Leader.
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"It's all felt a bit abstract I think, because I won my ARIA from my paddock at home so I don't have the award or anything yet."
It's a nod Lumsden accepts with great honour, after she poured her heart and soul into the lyrics of the songs, and then had to release the album into the world in the wake of devastating bushfires and on the brink of a global pandemic.
"This album has been so different, it has come through bushfires and a global pandemic and the odds have really been stacked against it," she said.
"But the songs were a lot more personal too, and the more personal I went, it felt like the more universally they were received."
The reception of Lumsden's latest record has been exciting for the artist.
The legendary Golden Guitar Awards - an event Lumsden has been drawn to since she was just a girl - has announced the nominees for the 2021 ceremony, to be held in Tamworth. She managed to scoop seven coveted nominations - the most of any artist this year.
"We've got our heads down getting music out and doing the work and creating all this art and thinking of new ways to share things over the internet and how to adapt, and then to look up and get this recognition for something so personal is so special," she said.
"I want to thank the country music community for being so supportive through such a crazy year and I feel like I've been so accepted into the country music family."
Despite the golden hues and swirling highs of recent weeks, it hasn't been the easiest year for the country music sweetheart.
But, things do seem to be looking up, and Lumsden has headed back to her family farm in southern NSW, after finishing a month-long tour across the state.
Despite the official cancellation of the Tamworth Country Music Festival 2021, Lumsden has promised the people of Tamworth there is "something special" she is planning for the city in January.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
