Photo: Supplied.
American-born Toni Childs was born for music, but she had to fight her way in; her family’s rigid religious beliefs barred her from any music but hymns. At the age of 15, Toni ran away.
She played with various well-known bands and singers for years, establishing herself as a performer but feeling the need to stretch further, find more of herself in her music and learn more about music production.
“Everyone was trying to be better at playing the same stuff, but I needed to work with people who wanted to experiment, jam and learn. I needed to leave Los Angeles – go and work in a recording studio, learn more about music production and really explore my writing. Island Music organised me a placement in the UK and I learned a lot.
“You find out that you have these gifts that never got to be unfurled because the space wasn’t big enough to let it happen, to let it all out of the cage. I had a lot of emotion and music settled it for me, directed that energy – singing was a way of soothing myself. Music has been my healing and now I’m at the age I am, people have told me that my music has helped them through bad times.”
Her show at RPAC, A Retrospective, will feature her best-known hits and songs from her latest albums. For tickets, go to rpac.com.au.
