"We'd be trying to sleep in and he'd be singing this stuff as loud as he could," Harvey remembers.
"It takes me right back to trying to get some damn sleep ... while the old man was madly cooking this breakfast that none of us really wanted.
Harvey could have another hit on his hands with It's Gettin' Late - a song we can all relate too. (HANDOUT/WILD HEART PUBLICITY)
"We just wanted sleep."
Harvey's new album Let The Song Take You Home, released on Friday, honours the music and moments that have shaped his life, complete with a cover of Rogers' 1978 track Sail Away.
"That was always one of dad's favourites - he used to sing that damn thing as loud as anything and he didn't sound anything like Kenny Rogers, I can tell you.
"I wanted to record that as a tribute to dad."
As he approaches 50, the nine-time Golden Guitar Award winner has found himself feeling particularly reflective, with more stories to tell than ever before.
The album's mid-point is marked with a slow ballad, Remember Me, about watching his mother's memories fall away with dementia.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adam Harvey (@adamharveyofficial)
Harvey, who's sold more than half a million records, wrote the song after a conversation that made him realise her condition was taking hold.
On the way back to her aged care home after an outing together, she described Harvey as "the son I never had".
"I thought she was kidding and I laughed and said, 'Very funny mum, did you want a son?', Harvey told AAP.
"She said, 'Yeah, it would have been nice'.
"It dawned on me that the time is getting nearer when she's not going to remember me at all."
The song has hit home for many listeners.
One man approached Harvey in a shop to share his heartbreak over losing his wife to dementia.
"All of a sudden there's this fella - a big burly fella - in tears in the middle of a supermarket telling me about this," Harvey said.
"It's something that started out as a really personal thing for me and now, in a way, it's comforting that song helps other people."
In 2013, Harvey and Troy Cassar-Daley produced the chart-topping The Great Country Songbook. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)
Amidst the challenges, Harvey embraces moments of joy on his 17th studio album, with road trip tracks and honky-tonk tunes.
The song It's Gettin' Late was inspired by his retired neighbour, who likes to come to Harvey's home and drink beer but never quite knows when the party is over.
"I start saying to him, 'Listen mate, it's kind of getting late'.
"He looks at his watch and says, 'You're right, we'd better have another one'.
"So I thought, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I may as well write a song about this."
Harvey's album tour across regional NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT runs until March.
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