Toni Childs is ready to ‘love up’ Karratha during two-hour retrospective show

Emmy winning and three-time Grammy nominated recording artist Toni Childs is headed for Karratha for what she calls a “chocolate box of memories” retrospective show.

Speaking with Pilbara News ahead of her March 6 show at the Red Earth Arts Precinct, she said attendees could expect their favourite tunes from albums Union, House of Hope, The Woman’s Boat, and Keep the Faith; as well as new music from her It’s All A Beautiful Noise and Citizens Of The Planet projects.

“All the fan favourites are in the first hour, and then in the second hour, I play a tasting from projects I’m rolling out towards the end of this decade,” she said.

“It’s part of an animation-meets-Ted-Talks-meets-music experience over two hours.

“If everything goes right, we’ll be touring in 2027 too, and I have three singles dropping for that this year, and I’ve been making music videos for that.”

Childs also spoke about a project she’s working on called Reef 360 in which she gives underwater concerts to whales and dolphins to inspire people around the world to invest in restoring the Great Barrier Reef and other reef systems.

“I’ve been to Exmouth and swam with the whale sharks before, and I would love to sing to them at some stage,” she said.

The US-born musician, who became an Australian citizen in 2022, has been living between Byron Bay in NSW and Katherine in the NT since 2012.

Childs said spending time in remote Australian locations had made her appreciate them more.

“People in regional communities need to be loved up,” she said.

“We really need it right now, because look at everything that’s happening on the planet — it’s pretty nutty.”

While Childs will not have much time to check out the Pilbara’s tourism spots this time around, she reflected fondly on previous visits to Western Australia’s north.

“In 2019 I did 57 regional theatres for three months solid, my retrospective, all through Australia,” she said.

“We did Karratha after the opening of the Red Earth Arts Precinct and went across the top to Darwin.

“Driving around Australia allows for that authentic outback experience, but I am excited to come back and have a holiday here someday.”

Childs will also be bringing her retrospective to Perth on March 7 at Astor Theatre and Bunbury on March 8 at Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre.

Tickets for the Karratha show can be found at www.reap.karratha.wa.gov.au.