Archie Roach Has A Companion Album For His New Book

Archie Roach will publish his memoir ‘Tell Me Why’ on 1 November and on the same day release a companion album.

The first taste of the album is the single ‘Open Up Your Eyes’ which is the first song Roach ever penned, but it has never been recorded until now. It was written in the late 1970s, during a stint in rehab at Galiamble, a Men’s Alcohol and Drug Recovery Centre in St Kilda. Archie says, “I was about 19 or 20 years old. During whatever free time I had outside of our chores and the AA meetings, I would have with me a guitar, a pen and a notebook. One time, as I started writing what I thought was a poem, having always loved poetry, I looked down at the words: ‘At fifteen I left my home, looking for the people I call my own, but all I found was pain and strife’. I realised then that writing and words, poetry and prose, has a rhythm to it. I picked up the guitar and started strumming and – bang – it just came, the melody and the rhythm and everything, all at once.”

Another song from the album ‘Rally Round The Drum’ was co-written and features Paul Kelly.

The album was produced by Paul Grabowsky. “I’ve known Archie since the mid-90s. He is an inspiring man: deep, thoughtful, taciturn. His songs ring with clarity, his voice richly textured; it is extraordinary to witness the magic he casts over an audience. Everything he says is deeply considered. This album is my response to the enormity of his story and its resonances, and to the quiet pride and generosity of this remarkable man.”

Tell Me Why
Archie Roach
Album out 1 November 2019 through Bloodlines
Available to pre-order here

Tell Me Why tracklisting:
1. Took The Children Away
2. A Child Was Born Here
3. F Troop
4. Nopun Kurongk
5. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
(feat. Emma Donovan)
6. Lighthouse (Song For Two Mothers)
7. One For Each Person, And One For The Pot
8. Little By Little
9. Down City Streets
10. Rally Round The Drum
(feat. Paul Kelly)
11. Small Child
12. The Jetty Song
13. Always Be Here (feat. Sally Dastey)
14. Tell Me Why (feat. Sally Dastey)
15. Let Love Rule
16. One Up Your Eyes
17. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
18. Place Of Fire