Melinda Schneider's earliest memories revolve around the music of Barbra Streisand.
"I first heard her sing The Way We Were when I was three years old and my mother taught it to me on the ukulele," the Central Coast singer-songwriter says.
"The chords were difficult for a little girl, but the hardest part was holding back the tears as I sang. Her music was so real and touched the very core of me.
"I used to get quite emotional when singing that song. Even at three I felt the sadness of the song. It's probably why I became a country music songwriter, because I've got good access to those kinds of emotions."
Streisand's voice, and her emotive lyrics, stuck with Schneider as she found her own voice and forged a successful career in the music industry.
Best known as one of Australia's most accomplished country artists, the ARIA-nominated and six-time Golden Guitar Award winner has had her songs recorded by the likes of John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John and Paul Kelly. She has 15 albums to her name, is a talented artist, and is the founder of Mpower Records.
And she is no stranger to paying tribute to her music idols.
A chart-topping 2011 album dedicated to Doris Day evolved into a sold-out national tour that toured for more than a decade, followed by albums and live shows paying homage to Karen Carpenter and Joni Mitchell.
Yesterday she released Melinda Schneider Sings the Songs of Barbra Streisand, an album recorded with a 10-piece band, and kicked off her national tour The Way We Were: The Music and Life of Barbra Streisand.
Schneider's The Way We Were is more than a tribute concert. It's an emotional journey through the extraordinary life of one of the 20th century's most influential artists, showcasing timeless songs and stories of resilience.
"I've had to take a few months out to work on this show, and it's a mammoth task. Technically, as a singer, this is the hardest material I've ever had to tackle," Schneider says.
"Streisand's spirit appeals to me. She's just so authentic, and an incredible talent in so many different areas: vocally, as an actress, as a director. She's a natural comedian, and a bit Jerry Lewis-like in some of her comedy films.
"She's just so versatile and loveable, and I think because she wasn't considered classically beautiful by industry standards, it made her more human. More accessible.
"She was an individual. She was different."
Schneider then launches into a detailed plot analysis of Streisand's films The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) and Funny Girl (1968).
"She was often cast as the 'plain' girl, the girl who didn't look like other girls. She often weaved that narrative into her work," she says.
"Throughout her career she was proving over and over again that the beauty myth didn't have to be a thing.
"I think that came from her experiences as a child with her horrible stepfather.
"Her mother married this horrible man called Louis Kind, who was Kind by name but not by nature. He used to say to her, 'We're all going out for ice-cream but you're not having any Barbra, you're too ugly for ice-cream'.
"Then when she got into showbiz, people would say 'You should get your nose done, you should get your teeth fixed', and she's, like, 'But I like my nose!'.
"She was so used to being called ugly, she had to learn how to value herself. I admire her for that. But even from a feminist point of view, everyone said no to her ideas. She wanted to direct Yentl, and it took her 15 years to get that film made and it was her first directing gig and she did an amazing job.
"I love her persistence. She didn't take no for an answer."
Schneider also has a lifetime of her own stories to tell.
She performed on stage for the first time at the age of three, and when she was eight, recorded an album with her mother, yodelling country artist Mary Schneider.
For the past four decades she has been writing and touring and recording and documenting her life in song.
No stone is left unturned.
"I was talking to a friend the other day about how far I've come in the past 18 months, having to walk through the fire with my mum by finding her a nursing home, cleaning up my childhood home and renting it out, dealing with 'stuff' and trying to work on top of that ... it was a tough time," she says.
"I said to her, 'I feel I can handle anything now. I feel so capable' and she said 'Yeah I've noticed a change in you, you're not wallowing as much'.
"Well, how I laughed. If I didn't wallow, I wouldn't be a songwriter and I wouldn't have a career in the music industry. Wallowing is part of being a writer. We artists and writers are overthinkers, it's how we create our work."
Schneider is still releasing singles from her album Tender, released in February, and says she is "really proud of it".
"It's nice to release an album at a time of my life when I'm in a really peaceful, secure and happy place," she says.
"I've been with my husband for 18 years, we've lived on the Central Coast for 15 years, life is really good. Most of my previous albums have come out at a time of struggle. When I was in an unhappy place. Tender is such a positive album, it's a nice change."
