‘From the heart’: Wolfe Brothers sweep Golden Guitars
Australia’s most decorated country duo were about to chase their American dreams when they realized they couldn’t call the USA home.
The Wolfe Brothers’ Australian Made album is a tribute to the sun-burnt country and the stories of its people, and helped the duo win the 2026 Australian Country Music Awards on Saturday night.
Nick and Tom Wolfe won five of the eight Golden Guitar awards they were nominated for, including album of the year, contemporary album of the year, duo of the year, vocal collaboration of the year and heritage song of the year, at the ceremony in Tamworth.
When almost asked if they would move to America, the brothers said they made the right choice.
“This is our home, this is where our family is, this is the country we care about,” Tom told reporters after the win.
“That’s where Australian country music comes from; it comes from the heart; it’s songs about farmers, warriors, real people and us.
“There’s a great international country music boom going on right now… The best thing for us is to do our modern style country and sing about this place: Australia.”
The results bring the number of Golden Guitars in the duo’s career to 15.
Country music veteran Kasey Chambers, the most nominated country music veteran in 2026, won three of the 13 categories she entered.
The Divorce Song, which was produced in collaboration with her ex-husband Shane Nicholson, earned Chambers the Golden Guitar award for single of the year and song of the year, while her album was awarded the alt-country album of the year award.
Chambers currently has over 20 Golden Guitars to his name, while Nicholson has over 15.
“I don’t think we ever thought we’d be standing here together again,” Chambers said.
“We haven’t written a song together since the divorce, and it’s really special that you (Shane) took a chance on this song.
“We definitely do divorce much better than marriage.”
While the male artist of the year and the new talent of the year were awarded to Wade Forster, Max Jackson received the female artist of the year award for the second time in a row.
Two-time ARIA winner Fanny Lumsden and her husband Dan Stanley Freeman won video of the year for Look At Me Now, which recapitulates the last fifteen years of her career through slices of the life the couple shared.
“This particular clip is quite different because it’s not the world of the song, it’s the world of our lives,” Freeman said. he said.
2026 GOLDEN GUITAR WINNERS:
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
*Max Jackson
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
*Wade Forster
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
* Made in Australia – Wolfe Brothers
SONG OF THE YEAR
* The Divorce Song – Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
ONLY OF THE YEAR
* The Divorce Song – Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
* Look at Me Now – Fanny Lumsden
SUB-COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
* Spine – Kasey Chambers
TRADITIONAL COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
* Start All Over Again – Brendan Radford
HERITAGE SONG OF THE YEAR
* Made in Australia – Wolfe Brothers
VOCAL COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
* How Many More Times – Zac and George and the Wolfe Brothers
AAP travels with help from Tamworth Country Music Festival
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