Toni Childs, Grammy-nominated recording artist confirms Ingham concert

Emmy-award winning musician Toni Childs announces concert in flood-struck Hinchinbrook. Here’s why she picked the small town.

Emmy-award winning and three-time Grammy nominated recording artist Toni Childs in concert. Childs is performing a special two-hour performance celebrating her life’s musical works in song and in story at the Hinchinbrook Shire Hall in Ingham on Friday, March 28. Picture: Supplied

I’m gutted. Queensland Premiere David Crisafulli has just called a press conference in Ingham at the same time that I am scheduled to call Emmy-award winning musician Toni Childs for an interview about her upcoming concert in the flood-struck North Queensland town.

I can’t ignore – nor dare – skip what will be a crucial announcement about the government’s ongoing disaster-assistance program, despite my adoration of Childs’ folk-pop music and deep, gravelly powerhouse vocals.

The question is, how do you bump an iconic American-born artist who has received multiple Grammy nominations and was a household name in both Australia and New Zealand during the late 80s and early 90s?

Do I summon the courage to call her directly or chicken out with an SMS?

“I am terribly sorry,” my SMS begins, “(Crisafulli) is in town for an important announcement about the flood disaster, can we please reschedule? My profuse apologies.”

Musician Toni Childs will be performing hits from ‘Union’, ‘House of Hope’, ‘The Woman’s Boat’ and ‘Keep the Faith’, as well as an introduction to her new music from new albums ‘It’s All a Beautiful Noise’ and ‘Citizens of the Planet’. Picture: Supplied

Naturally, of course, the recently minted Australian citizen who has opened for Bob Dylan and performed duets with Al Green and Peter Gabriel, is completely understanding when I finally have the privilege of talking to her on Monday.

In fact, she apologises to me for calling a few minutes after our rescheduled interview: “I’m so sorry, I’m in Perth and my phone was on silent.”

After three performances in Western Australia, Ms Childs is heading to Queensland for concerts in Cairns on March 27 and in Ingham the following evening, with the March 28 event being relocated from the badly flood-damaged JL Kelly Theatre to the Hinchinbrook Shire Hall.

The obvious first question is “Why Ingham?” and not a larger centre like Townsville?

“Why not?” she laughs, saying she adored playing and performing.

“I grew up in small rural towns as a kid and not a lot of people invest in going out into smaller towns and I feel like people in regional towns need to be loved up and know that they matter, that they’re important and that they’re valuable.”

Ms Childs, who famously ran away from home aged just 15 to begin her music career and life on the road, said this was particularly true at this juncture in time, “with a darkness creeping across (the world).”

She said she was bringing her “chocolate box of memories” to her two-hour concerts, which would celebrate her life’s musical works “in song and in story” and an hour of new material.

“It’s an injection of positivity and connection and heart and we’re just needing that, I love it, I just can’t think of doing a better thing on the planet.”

With fans in more than 50 countries around the world, Toni Childs has produced international hits that include, ‘Don’t Walk Away’, ‘Stop Your Fussin’’, ‘Walk and Talk Like Angels’, ‘Zimbabwe’, ‘Where’s the Ocean’, ‘Many Rivers to Cross’, ‘I’ve Got to Go Now’ and ‘Because You’re Beautiful’. Picture: Supplied

Childs, who had a string of hits in Australian and New Zealand in the late 80s to mid-90s, was a household name before almost completely disappearing as she bravely battled hyperthyroidism.

“(I was on) a fast-moving train and then acquiring Graves Disease and having three specialists say, ‘look, you need to stop what you are doing’.”

She said at its worst, “my eyes were bulging out of my head and my resting heartbeat was 120 beats per minute and with a short flight of stairs it would shoot up to 180”.

The singer-songwriter known for hits such as ‘Stop Your Fussin’’ and ‘Don’t Walk Away’ in 1988 and ‘I’ve Got to Go Now’ in 1991, uprooted her life, moving to Hawaii and considered environmental factors that could have been contributing to her condition.

“I had a hair analysis done and found that I had high levels of mercury and I found out I had had it in my drinking water … I found out that for two years prior to moving to Hawaii, I was being poisoned.”

She said it was a wake-up call, undergoing a battery of allergy tests.

“I found out I was allergic to chlorine, sulphates, toothpastes and shampoos and so I had a toxic overload due to pesticides and products you just put on your skin, preservatives and other kinds of things.”

Toni Childs has opened for Bob Dylan and performed duets with greats such as Al Green and Peter Gabriel over the course of her career. Picture: Supplied.

Childs said she had “a beautiful decade off” but was looking forward to the wider upcoming release of two albums, ‘It’s All a Beautiful Noise’ and ‘Citizens of The Planet’, as well of a tours of the United States and Europe.

She described her new music featuring her trademark vocals as “fresh” and “uplifting”.

“Like I said, I’m a ‘love pollinator’ … and we’re needing it, we really are, it’s a good thing,” she said.

“The sonic sounds, the textures and all of that has gone to what I feel is a new level that’s really beautiful and people are able to really resonate with easily, instantly.”

Childs met Australian husband Mik Lavage in 2010, becoming a citizen in 2022.

“I am so happy and delighted that I live here and I’m ‘one of the bunch’, I feel very grateful, but I feel very sad for what is happening in America right now.”

Tickets can be purchased HERE.

Originally published as Toni Childs, Grammy-nominated recording artist confirms Ingham concert