And there's hopes the two songs composed specifically for Albury-Wodonga will continue to be sung here for decades to come.

Because as creator Jessie Lloyd explains, Mission Songs Project is far more than just the stage show.

"It's about reviving and preserving our history through song," she said.

"And to do that we have to keep singing them and valuing them, and the show is just one way of keeping those songs going."

Originally listed in HotHouse Theatre's 2020 season, Mission Songs Project opens at the Wodonga venue on Wednesday night and continues until Saturday.

A vocalist and guitarist from the Geia family, Lloyd devised the concept in 2015, wanting to reveal what life was like in the Christian missions and state-run settlements of the 20th century.

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"It's been a very organic process of cruising around and looking for these songs," she said.

"The bulk of my research has been coming from the Indigenous community as opposed to the library or the archives.

"These songs are 100 years' worth of music that show a continuation of song traditions, passing songs down from generation to generation.

"That's the powerful thing ... you keep singing the songs and that history stays alive as well."

A Border choir will join Lloyd on stage, following on from an earlier visit to the region to write local songs.

"In the show, I just tell really awesome, inspiring stories about how I found the songs or the families, the story behind them or how the song was almost forgotten," she said.

In Port Augusta, Lloyd had been surprised to find people not that much older than herself were once mission residents.

"What I was exploring and researching was a little bit more confronting because it was the people sitting next to me whereas every other place it might be their parents or their grandparents," the musician said.

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While mission life was undoubtedly hard, the music itself didn't reflect that.

"There's always optimism, there's always hope and sometimes there's a little bit of humour," Lloyd said.

"When you're living in that kind of situation or you have nothing, all you can have is hope, and that light humour can just sometimes make the day a little bit better."

Mission Song Project can be seen at HotHouse Theatre, Lincoln Causeway, Wodonga, Wednesday, May 12, to Saturday, May 15, at 7pm.

A question and answer session will follow Friday's show while there is also a special community performance on Saturday at 2pm.

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