TONI Childs was 12 years old when she first listened to music.
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In her extremely religious household, if it wasn't Christian music it was prohibited, until an experimental neighbour opened the door to something new.
"My neighbours put headphones on me because I'd never listened to anything but Christian music," she said.
"They played Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, all this different music and it just blew me open, it blew the doors off."
Now, the soulful singer embarks on her Retrospective Tour - a look back at her past and a glimpse into the future.
Childs ran away from home as a teenager to become a blues musician filled with ambition and expectation.
It wasn't long until her voice began to resonate with audiences and eventually moved to London where she was dropped in the deep end of life as a recording artist.
"I wanted to be respected by my peers and songwriters, I wanted to be not a flash in the pan and stand the test of time through the decades," she said.
"Some people get scared that if they do change they won't have success."
Since then she's released six albums, her tour marks 30 years since she recorded her first, Union.
A diagnosis of Graves disease in 1997 forced Childs to take a decade off from touring to heal - but it was also a time where she felt quite lost.
"I realised I gave my power away, it shifted me," she said.
"I had this disease and people were telling me my career started it.
"I spiralled but then I went on this amazing journey where I cured myself."
With renewed energy and inspiration Childs wrote her last two albums Citizens of the Planet and It's All a Beautiful Noise.
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Both were something of a rebirth for Childs who seems to have found a much stronger, more connected and almost unearthly sound.
The sound is driving and deep, Childs describes the feeling as like being in fast car.
"This is who I am now, it really reflects who I am now how I’m being stirred emotionally, how I’m feeling the personal power of living as long as I’ve lived and really still storytelling," she said.
"The way I set my compass, the way I’ve been following my threads of inspiration are all aligned with that, it’s important to be really honest and vulnerable and share what’s hardest for me while at the same time shares what’s beautiful and what moves me."
Beyond her music she has incorporated a form of technical artistry into her shows, with 3D mapping becoming something of a live art installation.
Childs will perform her Retrospective Tour in Armidale at UNE on April 4 and Tamworth at the Capitol Theatre April 12.