It's been quite the year for award-winning Australian country artist Fanny Lumsden, whose electric and compelling live shows won ears and hearts all over the world during a 2025 European tour support slot with the legendary Paul Kelly.

As soon as Lumsden and her band The Prawn Stars landed back on home turf, they jumped straight into a national arena tour alongside Kelly and Grammy Award-winning Lucinda Williams, and even smashed out some Sydney shows with Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas.

Far from taking a break following the hectic tour schedule, Lumsden is now preparing for a February 2026 tour of capital cities featuring an initiative called Play With Fanny, for which literally any musical act in Australia is encouraged to apply for a support slot. Lumsden sat down with The Music to tell us more about the initiative.

Needing to get the most important things out of the way, we really have to address the name of the contest. Fanny immediately gets a wicked smile on her face, and laughs.

“We’re having so much fun with it,” she says. “We’re going to have all sorts of awesome Play With Fanny merch, t-shirts, caps for sale on the tour. Come play with Fanny!” She chuckles.

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As well as being divinely cheeky, it’s quite a genuine invitation, too. Any Australian musical act is welcome to apply for one of the support slots on the two-week, six-date tour, simply by uploading a video performance of one song here by December 17th, 2025.

“Emerging artists, experienced recording artists, anyone in between can apply”, Lumsden explains. “We’ve had some really great entries so far.”

Supporting other artists is a value that Lumsden has always held dear, having provided a platform to literally hundreds of emerging artists as part of her Country Halls tours, which have covered over 300 regional venues across Australia.

“I grew up on a farm in NSW and I never had the chance to play in front of an audience with a PA, so we say to these artists, ‘If you want to have a go, we’ll help you set up and plug in and have a performance,’” explains Lumsden.

“Some of them had never even played to an audience before, and have then gone on to do fantastic things. And some have decided it’s not for them, and that’s fine! I’m glad we were able to provide the space for them to be able to explore.

“Supporting Paul Kelly, Lucinda Williams and Rob Thomas this year… I’ve really benefited from the generosity of these artists,” she adds. “They’ve let me have my whole band play and provided a space and platform and audience that I didn’t have to stress over and try to put together.”

Lumsden is personally judging the acts to decide who will be the best fit for each city’s date. And so far she’s been blown away by the calibre of the entries, she tells us.

“It’s been so great. I’ve really been enjoying the interpretations people have been doing of our song Look At Me Now, that’s been so incredible to see and hear.”

Look At Me Now, the latest single by Lumsden, is a reflection on her musical journey so far, recorded whilst on the road in Europe with her live band.

The clip was produced by Fanny and her husband Dan Stanley Freeman and is a testament to a career that continues to grow with every year. It’s also been nominated for a Golden Guitar Video Of The Year award, which – if she takes it out – will be Lumsden’s tenth Golden Guitar since her first accolade in 2020, and her third win for Video Of The Year, which is no mean feat.

While Lumsden can’t put her finger on what makes her music videos so loved by fans and critics alike, she can happily chat for days about how much she loves making them.

“Building our visual work is really important,” she stresses. “The amount of detail we put into that side of it is almost a little silly! There are no accidents, every single thing is a decision.

“For me, when I write a song I can see the visual world already. The other part is I’m really strong about making something that’s very true to myself and the song. If it feels untrue to me we can’t have it in there.”

With her highly authentic storytelling and ‘instinct first’ approach to art making, as well as desire to connect and build community at every opportunity, it��s no wonder that Lumsden’s fans have remained steadfastly attached by the heartstrings since her debut.

“We might not have the biggest fan base in the world, but we have a very very loyal fan base,” she says proudly.

“This is something that we’ve always really valued. I’m so grateful that even one person ever has bought a ticket and parted with their hard earned cash.”

Raised on a farm in western New South Wales, Lumsden is a country girl from the tips of her boots to the top of her Akubra – presuming she has one, of course. But that certainly doesn’t stop her from playing around with genres.

“Someone once called us gateway country, and I love that,” she tells us, smile widening.

“We’re like country for people who don’t know that they like country yet. And people who already love country, of course!” She adds hurriedly with a cheerful laugh.

“Sonically we embrace a lot of influences. And for us, it’s all about playing live and putting on excellent live shows. I think a lot people, particularly at ‘non-genre’ festivals like Glastonbury, really appreciate good live music, and we bring a LOT of energy to the live space. If you communicate well and connect well they don’t really mind what the genre is. It’s just good music that makes them feel great.

“But obviously at my core, I’m deeply country. I grew up in the country, I tell stories from the country and about our connection to country. That’s where my heart is.”

Tickets to Fanny Lumsden’s upcoming tour are on sale now.

FANNY LUMSDEN

LIVE IN 2026

Friday, February 6th – Rosemount Hotel, Perth, WA

Saturday, February 7th – Lion Arts Centre, Adelaide, SA

Friday, February 13th – Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, VIC

Saturday, February 14th – The Triffid, Brisbane, QLD

Friday, February 20th – Factory Theatre, Sydney, NSW

Saturday, February 21st – UC Hub, Canberra, ACT