Archie Roach to lead First Nations-focused video series ‘Uncle Archie’s Kitchen Table Yarns’

Legendary Indigenous songwriter Archie Roach will front an upcoming video series, ‘Uncle Archie’s Kitchen Table Yarns’.

Launching on August 4, the video project pairs Roach with some of Australia’s best emerging First Nations artists for a series of candid conversations, with episodes being filmed from Roach’s home in regional Victoria and being released on the first Wednesday of each month.

12 different First Nations musicians from around the country will be featured throughout the series, connecting with Roach to chat culture, community, songwriting and language.

“Yarning at my kitchen table with these young artists will help people understand who they are and give them another platform to promote their music,” Roach said of the new series.

“The kitchen table has always been a place of inspiration for me. It’s a place where I’ve written most of my songs, drank many cups of tea, ate meals, played music whilst my children ran around making plenty of noise. It represents family, community and love. We thought it would be a great idea to have a YouTube series and conversation at the kitchen table.

“It’s important their voices are heard so they don’t have to go through what I went through.

“They are our future and when the time comes for us older singer-songwriters to finish up we know it’s in good hands.”

Among the artists to be featured is Yorta Yorta musician and activist Allara Briggs Patterson, who noted the significance of the series amid current events.

“The kitchen table series is super exciting and such an amazing opportunity for emerging artists to chat with Uncle Archie about music, life and culture,” Patterson said.

“Even when gigs seem to be cancelled over and over again, this series creates something deadly, ongoing and humbling in a time when there is no stability as a musician. Big love and thanks to Uncle Archie for the opportunity to yarn over a cuppa tea and a Monte Carlo.”

Last year, Archie Roach was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, with then-ARIA CEO Dan Rosen describing the Gunditjmara and Bundjalung artist as “an artist of enormous integrity, writing songs of deep personal honesty that resonated all around Australia”.

Roach is also scheduled to perform throughout regional NSW for his Tell Me Why tour this August.