Tracy Roach still remembers the music coursing through the old Royal Hotel in Fitzroy the day she met her uncle, Archie Roach.
It was there, as a 17-year-old, that she was first introduced to the beloved songman in the late 1980s.
"I remember the song Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine was playing in the background and Mum took me in and she said, 'Archie, this is your niece here'," Ms Roach told the ABC.
"And he went, 'What? My niece? I know all my nieces?' And she said, 'Not this one, Archie, this is my oldest daughter'."
Despite being a generation younger than her uncle, Ms Roach had also been taken from her family as a baby.
Bound by their painful experiences as survivors of the Stolen Generation, the pair forged a connection that would endure into their later lives.
"I get a little bit emotional when I think about those days," Ms Roach said.
The 1990 hit which launched Uncle Archie's career, Took The Children Away, detailed his personal story of trauma, grief and displacement.
It became a ballad of truth-telling and healing which earned him two ARIA gongs the next year and an Australian Human Rights Achievement Award decades later in 2019.
Today, Ms Roach will be joined by thousands of mourners gathering for a state memorial service at Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl to honour Uncle Archie's legacy, his life and the melodies that cemented a place in the hearts of Australians.
'He opened his world up to me'
It's been four months since Archie Roach died at age 66 after a long illness, but the daily grief remains for Tracy Roach.
A week before his death, the Roach family had said their final goodbyes to Archie's sister Dianne.
Both Dianne and Archie were forcibly removed from their family in south-west Victoria in 1958.
Tracy Roach said the unexpected deaths of first Dianne, and then Archie, were a devastating blow for the family.
"The news shocked us and set us back," she said.
"The two babies that were taken from Framlingham [Aboriginal Mission] together were the two babies that left this place together."
Ms Roach, who lived with her uncle and helped to care for him in his final days, said they shared a special bond and happy memories that she would cherish forever.
"We had our very first Roach Christmas at my house and I remember opening the door to Archie Roach singing a Christmas carol to me," she recalled.
"I spent every birthday with him, even Father's Day — we would call it Uncle's Day and he loved that."
Despite his sickness, the proud Gunditjmara and Bundjalung man continued to tour the country to share his talent and laughter with his loyal fans.
"He was so generous in a lot of ways," Ms Roach said.
"He opened his world up to me and opened up the eyes and hearts of everyone.
"In his last few days, we were worried about his breathing and one day I went to his room and it turns out that he was a bit breathless because he couldn't contain his laughter at Shaun the Sheep. He loved that show."
Ms Roach said despite the many hardships her uncle faced, he continued to live by the title of his seventh studio album, Let Love Rule, which became the highest-charting record of his 40-year career.
"He didn't have one hateful bone in his body for anything," she said.
"If you sat with him, he didn't like you to bring up anything negative. It was always about positivity, love, healing and bringing people together."
Ms Roach said she hoped those principles would live on through the work of his foundation, which was established to support emerging artists and people in youth detention.
'We stand on his shoulders'
Uncle Archie's music has continued to influence a new generation of First Nations musicians.
Like many Indigenous children, proud Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal and Zenadh Kes person Kee'ahn Bindol grew up listening to Uncle Archie's music, which they said inspired them to pursue a music career.
"My mum and dad would play his music on the weekends," they said.
"It was like a ritual every Saturday [to listen] to Uncle Archie's voice."
"Seeing how vulnerable and strong he was with his voice, his words and his music, it was just a huge inspiration."
The singer was awarded the Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent in 2020 and performed their song Better Things for Uncle Archie over Zoom during the pandemic.
"We were both just having a moment and there was a part when he just put his hand up … he needed to kind of breathe and collect himself," Bindol said.
"It just melted my heart it was so beautiful.
"I think just knowing that Uncle Archie supported me and … having that connection with the foundation since then has been wonderful."
Bindol is one of many artists, including Emma Donovan, Paul Kelly and Briggs, who will be performing a tribute at the Memorial from 6pm.
Bindol said the revered elder, storyteller and songman's talent transcended more than music and his memory will live on forever.
"Uncle Archie was a part of our story so it'll be beautiful commemorating his existence, his impact and his work," they said.
"We stand on his shoulders."
The state memorial service starts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl at 7pm AEDT and will be streamed on ABC News Channel, iview and ABC Radio Melbourne.
