Songs from the Kitchen Table

The ultimate illustrated commemoration of iconic Australian musicians Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter in songs, stories, photographs and tributes.

Longlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2024

Since he left us, Archie Roach’s legacy has continued to soar, like his totem animal from his mother’s ancestral lands, the wedge-tailed eagle. Archie’s songs stand as anthems for both the experience of dispossession and our shared humanity.

Songs from the Kitchen Table is a tribute to the power of Archie’s voice, and to the love of music he shared with his life partner and musical collaborator, Ruby Hunter. This beautiful, illustrated volume contains the lyrics to over one hundred of their songs, carefully curated by Archie’s manager and friend, Jill Shelton.

From Archie’s breathtaking early works, ‘Took the Children Away’ and ‘Charcoal Lane’, to the timeless classics ‘Tell Me Why’, Ruby’s ‘Down City Streets’, and Archie’s final masterpiece, ‘One Song’, the lyrics are accompanied by stories about their composition, rare photographs, original artwork, and heartfelt tributes to Archie and Ruby from those who knew and loved them.

With forewords by their long-time friends and musical collaborators, Emma Donovan, Paul Kelly and Jack Latimore, Songs from the Kitchen Table is a celebration of one of Australia’s great creative partnerships, and a testament to the ongoing power of plain-spoken truths.