Performer Toni Childs will celebrate the 30 year anniversary of her debut album, Union, with a tour of regional Australia.
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The American singer and songwriter will perform hits and fan favourites from the 1988 album, which saw her nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and for Best Rock Vocal Performance.
She will also bring a host of newer music to the region, when she performs at the Orange Civic Theatre and Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre next month.
We grow and shed through our lives. My voice has opened up and there is a new depth to it
- Toni Childs
The line up will include hits such as, House of Hope, the Woman’s Boat and Keep the Faith in the first hour of the show, and an introduction to her new albums It’s All a Beautiful Noise and Citizens of the Planet in the second hour.
The Emmy Winner and three-time Grammy nominated recording artist has called Byron Bay home for the last few years, where she said she spends "every waking hour" rehearsing for her next big project.
Having been diagnosed with Graves disease in 1997 - which she put down to Mercury poisoning from drinking water and allergenic ingredients in the toothpaste and shampoo she was using - Ms Childs has made her health a priority.
She said her new albums are a reflection of this healing period.
"My music is specific to the emotional place that I'm in now," she said. "We grow and shed through our lives. My voice has opened up and there is a new depth to it."
In addition to show's in Orange and Bathurst, NSW fans in Dubbo, Lismore, Armidale and Albury are all among those who will have the chance to see this show.
Her time surrounded by the naturist communities of Byron Bay appears to have had an effect on the singer, with the environmental activist making it her plight to bring the decline of bee numbers to the world's attention.
After the wrap up of this tour, which will take her across the country until July, Ms Childs will up the ante on rehearsal for her next show.
She said the show currently in the creation process is designed to provide an immersive experience for her audience, inviting them to wear on of several white paper masks, including a frog, dragonfly, bee, butterfly, ladybug, or bird and to be a part of the show.
"I want to bring my art, installation art, as well as music, as well as thoughts and ideas together in a traveling contemporary art experience," Ms Childs said.
She said she hopes this exploratory medium will draw attention to the need to save the bees.
"The idea is to create a fun, celebratory way to inspire people to protect our pollinators," she said.
In Orange and Bathurst next month, audiences will have an opportunity to meet the singer, with special tickets available which include a seat in the first five rows, a T-Shirt, a copy of her greatest hits album and a drink backstage after the concert.
Tickets for the shows can be purchased directly through Toni’s website. www.tonichilds.com/shop/
Tickets are on sale now Orange Civic Theatre April 5, Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre April 11.
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