The Gunditjmara and Bundjalung musician was born in Mooroopna in 1956, and lived on the Framlingham Aboriginal Mission until he was taken from his family at three years old with his two sisters.
“It's great to get back to country again,” he said.
“To get up there and perform is a big part of what we do, I love that interaction and the relationship of people listening to story and music.”
His Tell Me Why tour - initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic - pushes ahead as Mr Roach fights chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which has escalated in recent months.
Mr Roach's most recent album - a re-release of his debut record Charcoal Lane - was recorded at the kitchen table over the pandemic.
“Getting back into old songs again recently has been great,” he said.
“The music has grown over the years as I have . . . When we recorded the songs, it was like catching up with old friends.
“You're a little bit wiser now, with more of an idea of where you're going.”
A member of one of the Stolen Generations, Mr Roach was passed through foster homes as a child before settling with the Cox family.
His foster-sister, Mary Cox, was the first person who fostered his love of music - and taught him guitar and keyboard as a child.
But it wasn't until he met his future wife, Ruby Hunter, while living on the streets of Melbourne and Adelaide that his passion for songwriting took hold.
“Music helped me turn around my life,” he said.
“When I stopped drinking, it kept me away from the bottle . . . and it helped me to heal in other ways, to talk about things in my life that adversely affected me.
“It has this healing quality . . . it's a great medium to go to when you're down - when you're sad or when you're joyous and happy.”
When Charcoal Lane was released in 1990, it moved listeners with its intimate recounting of the experience of being separated from his family, and Mr Roach's subsequent battle with homelessness and alcoholism.
The album won two ARIA awards, a place among Rolling Stone's top albums of 1992, and a Human Rights Achievement Award for Took The Children Away.
It was the first time the award had been presented to a songwriter.
Since then, Mr Roach has released 10 studio albums, won numerous awards and received international recognition for his contribution to arts and culture, and his nurturing of First Nation performers.
Last year, he made history as the 2020 Victorian Australian of the Year, and has since worked on an educational resource and picture book sharing the stories of Stolen Generations survivors.
“We need to express, and talk about the progress that has been made and be happy about that - about the good that's been done so far,” he said.
“At a grassroots level, people are more aware. And truth telling, sharing with younger and interested people helps us heal as a whole, as a nation.
“Things aren't the same as they were, but there's still a way to go.”
Archie Roach will be performing at Riverlinks Westside, Mooroopna on Tuesday, March 16 from 7.30 pm to 9.20 pm. Bookings are essential on the Riverlinks website.
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