Kangaroo Valley singer Danny Ross' late father nurtured his passion for music, so it was only fitting that he pay tribute to him with his rendition of Neil Young's Old Man during the live finals of The Voice last week.
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That performance will seal his fate on tonight's show when just two of the three Team Joel contestants will make it through, and he hopes it helped the audience finally connect with him.
"I hadn't had the opportunity to express myself in an essential way before that, so I was fortunate that Joel 'saved' me the previous week and allowed me to have a pivotal moment with that performance," Ross told the Mercury.
"Every song before that had been quite a way out of my comfort zone, so it was nice to have a song that was closer to me.
"It wasn't just because of the connotation around my father, it was because that kind of song, that kind of power ballad, is what I do.
"So I'm glad Joel had the foresight to let me have that moment with that song, which went to No 6 on the charts and I outperformed the rest of my team with that."
Given that result, Ross believes he has a good chance of getting through tonight's live vote but he remains pragmatic.
"Whatever happens at this stage is meant to be - some really incredible artists have already gone so everything now is really a bonus round," he said.
"Yet at the same time I've felt the possibility of being one of the final four and I'd love to be there.
"From the start I had the sense that my journey on The Voice would be significant but I had no idea I'd have songs in the top 10 or that my rapport with my coach and with the show would be so strong."
Ross lost his father to skin cancer when he was just 11, but his old man had already instilled in his son a passion for singing and songwriting.
"He was full of premonitions," Ross said.
"He saw my love of music from a very early age and was always talking to me about songwriting and taking me to big rock concerts - for my seventh birthday I went to a Bon Jovi concert.
"When he was really sick, when he was dying, I used to play music for him and make up songs for him - that was really the beginning of my creative process with my music.
"It was a huge gift he gave me - and it lived on after he died."
Ross said he took solace in music after his father's death, playing a classical guitar that was bought for him from the proceeds of his father's will.
"I still play that guitar every day," he said. "And my uncle bought me guitar lessons the week after my dad died - he stepped in and became a huge paternal musical force in my life."
As for his stint on The Voice, Ross reckons his dad would be pretty happy with the direction his life is taking.
"I think he'd be delighted that shows like this exist - in the early nineties this kind of thing was unheard of," he said. "As for my role in the show, he'd probably be getting very strategic and being very hard on me!"
Travel, as well as life experience, has shaped Ross' songwriting. He said he learnt the "true meaning" of folk music when teaching guitar in East Timor, and living in isolation on a Kangaloon property for a year with a peacock as his only companion gave him time to immerse himself in his music.
With his unique talent and good looks, it's a surprise that Ross has not already been snapped up by a record company, but he said times are hard for young musicians.
"The recording industry used to have a lot of money back in the eighties, and at that time they'd probably have thrown $150,000 at someone like me," he said.
"But the massive loss of revenue since people starting copying and sharing music has meant that record companies have stopped working with artists in the same way.
"I knew that going on a show like The Voice would help me connect with a lot of people and give a record company the incentive to want to work with me."
