So it's not unusual for Fanny, husband Dan Stanley Freeman and their sons, Rupert (aged two) and Walter (five) to come along for the ride.

That's certainly the plan in March, when Fanny is set to perform at the Port Fairy Folk Festival. This will be the first time Fanny hits the stage at the famous festival as a headline artist, having previously performed with friends or attended with the thousands of other punters who flock to the seaside village each year.

You could argue that a road trip to Port Fairy is small fry given the entire family accompanied Fanny to Glastonbury in mid-2023, where she performed with her band, The Prawnstars. "It was very overwhelming for an adult, let alone a kid, but they did very well," she says.

"The whole thing was so amazing, to be there with my fans, and the audience was incredible. They were so open and excited, and did all the dance moves. "It was like a bucket list moment - but not really bucket list, because you think, 'That won't happen'. And then it did. It was a very cool experience."

This story is from the first edition of Eat Play Stay magazine, ACM's new guide to some of our favourite places in Victoria and SW NSW to grab a bite, be entertained and relax for a while during the summer months. You can read it online here.

Born and bred on a property in the Riverina, Fanny grew up helping out on the farm, with music a big influence in the Lumsden family. While she studied music at high school, she ultimately undertook a Bachelor of Rural Science before moving to Sydney and playing at various local venues. She met other musicians during this time, and this is when her music career truly began.

Fanny now has a swag of CMAA Golden Guitar and ARIA awards to her name (the most recent an ARIA for Best Country Album for Hey Dawn, which she won two days after this interview) together with her own record label, Red Dirt Road Records. She also founded The Country Halls Tour initiative, which sees fundraising concerts held in regional, rural and remote halls across Australia.

It's a testament to the hard-working, self-managed artist that having kids has not slowed her down. "It never even occurred to me that I'd have to choose," Fanny says of juggling parenting with her music career.

"I think that's the narrative that gets told to people and it's not true. It's not something that I needed to separate. The reward is that I get to have my family with me during this performing and creative journey. I don't have to sacrifice either part of myself to make that happen."

Fanny says the secret is being highly organised and totally fine with chaos. "They're little kids; they don't care about your schedule or if you haven't slept all night, or if they gave you a cold just before you were meant to do a big performance. I don't think of that as necessarily bad, it's just life," she says.

Her tips for travelling long distances with kids? "Have lots of snacks ready, bring some toys and don't be afraid of an iPad," she laughs, before adding "don't try to control everything is the main thing. Let everybody go with the flow and understand that you're putting your kids in this situation, it's not their fault".

Now Fanny's boys are growing and awake for longer on the journey, podcasts have been replaced with kids' stories and music - The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) and the UK's Ellie Dixon are current favourites.

"I love having them on tour, because you get caught up in whatever the stresses are and then you have a kid who's like, 'Ah, I've pooed my pants'," she laughs. "It's a good reminder that you can't take things too seriously."