There is a deep connection to the earth in Roach's work, imbued in all he does. It gives his songs a rare, uplifting and magical quality. "Some parts of the earth were sung into existence," Roach says. And some people, he explains, "when they look at the country, they see song. The hills, the mountains, to them, it is like sheet music."

Turning up to headline the special new Indigenous Program at this year's National Folk Festival, Roach is positive about playing here. "It's what keeps me going," he says. "I've always loved playing and performing. I'm not as fit and healthy as I was, but I'm OK. Once you are onstage, you're like a fish back in water."

Describing it as "good medicine," Into the Bloodstream is Roach's eighth studio album. It is a cry out to people who are suffering, offering a ray of light into their darkness. "I think that's the aim of doing the album," Roach says. "It's a great comfort, music."

The album received a National Indigenous Music and Deadly Award for best album.

At the National Folk Festival, Roach will be promoting songs from Into the Bloodstream as well as tracks from Creation, a four-CD box set. The box set contains his first four albums, including Charcoal Lane - the one that brought Took the Children Away, one of his most beloved tracks, to the world.

In the early days, music for Roach was "a way of feeling, of getting through, getting off the streets", he says. "I've loved music since I was a kid. Even when I was young, in primary school, I was influenced by music on so many levels. For me, it was something that I loved, it made me feel and think about life."

With the box set covering 12 years of his recording career, each album is a reflection of the "time he was in when he made that album," he says. "Singing for me, I can't speak for other people, it's a spiritual thing. It transports me wherever that song takes me. Wherever that song is, I'm there."

Butcher Paper, Texta, Blackboard and Chalk will also be launched at the National Folk Festival. A book of songs that comes with a CD and DVD, it was developed by his late partner Ruby Hunter, while working with children in remote Cape York communities.

Using demos left behind by Hunter to complete the project, "people have loved it'', Roach says. "Schools are using it as a learning tool. It gives students an idea about how to write their own story down and present it in song." Proceeds from the songbook go to Ruby's Foundation, creating opportunities for Aboriginal people through the promotion, celebration and support of Aboriginal arts and culture.

Where: National Folk Festival

When: Festival runs from April 17-21

Tickets: folkfestival.org.au