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The Wolfe Brothers — Tom and Nick to their friends — do not have anything resembling a normal life, after years touring Australia and the US with their self-titled country rock band.
But the brothers, who grew up on a small berry farm outside Hobart, recently faced a very common dilemma in farming families.
Their father, Malcolm Wolfe, was diagnosed with cancer and died late last year.
His sons found themselves wondering if they could hold on to the Neika property, which has been in the family since 1899.
"I didn't think it would happen so soon," Nick Wolfe said.
"Tom and I have spent the last 10 or 12 years of our lives pursuing the band and we've been away for a lot of that time — travelling, playing.
"In my mind, I guess I thought we'd wind down one day and come back home and gradually transition … and Dad would be here, showing us the ropes."
Tom Wolfe admitted: "The easy thing to do would be sell it, sub-divide it — but that's not what we're going to do.
"This is our name, this is where we're from, and we want to keep it alive."
Music and farming passed down through generations
While the brothers will not be putting down their guitars any time soon, their busy schedules have become far more crowded with the day-to-day responsibilities of running a farm.
Luckily they have family around to pick up the slack — their mum Leigh, and uncle Tony, who is teaching them the tricks of the berry trade.
"My brother and I, we used to do our job by day, our music by night and our farming of a weekend," Tony Wolfe said.
"We were pretty busy. I think back now — 'how did I do all that?'"
Music has been passed down through the generations, just like farming.
Malcolm and Tony Wolfe played in a band with their parents, called the Wolfe Family Orchestra.
Tom and Nick started The Wolfe Brothers more than a decade ago with local friends Brodie Rainbird and Casey Kostiuk.
Since then they have released three albums, toured with Lee Kernaghan and made multiple trips to the US, where country music is a huge market.
'Our music and songs draw from this place'
Even though it will be a huge challenge to balance farm work and life as touring musicians, Tom said selling the farm would risk an essential connection to their music and their fans.
"So much of our music and songs draw from this place," he said.
"The sense of home, the sense of where you come from, the sense of family — playing country music, that's a huge part of it."
Leigh Wolfe said having her sons at home more often was music to her ears.
"It's just great to see them living their passion, living their dream," she said.
"I love to hear what they're doing but it's just so good to have them home — that's where they're really happiest, when they're home."
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Topics: music, country, rural, human-interest, neika-7054, hobart-7000, tas
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