SINGER Toni Childs is crowd-funding to raise $350,000 by January 22 to stage a unique international tour incorporating her music, visual arts, and a bid to save the world’s bees.
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She’s inviting her fans from the Hunter and Newcastle to get on board.
Childs was the headline act at the Lake Macquarie carols by candlelight at Speers Point Park on Sunday.
One of the highlights of the night was when the American-born singer stepped down off the stage to walk among the families in the audience to perform her song Because You’re Beautiful.
Speaking to the Fairfax Media after the show on Tuesday, Childs said it was a ritual she looked forward to at all of her performances.
“I love doing that. That’s where my heart is at, and that is a special song,” Childs said.
But there aren’t usually so many excited children jumping about when she wanders among her audiences.
“It was so funny, when I got up to leave and walk out of the audience and back up to the stage, all of the little kids were running up in front of me like I was Santa Claus,” she said.
The Emmy Award-winning singer and songwriter, who now lives in Australia, also invited locals to get on board with her crowd-funding campaign to fund the staging of her international tour with a difference in 2019.
It’s All a Beautiful Noise is the name of the tour, and her new album.
She said the plan was for the tour to be a celebration of the world’s bees and pollinators.
It will take the form of Childs' music and “two hours of off-the-hook 3D mapping animations by Barcelona-based Tigrelab”.
It will also incorporate life size paper animal installations, white paper hats worn by audience members that light up on command, and lots of “fun tech audience engagement”.
Unlike a regular gig that might engage an audience for two hours, Childs said the plan with her new show was to keep audiences engaged for up to five months - before, during and after the concert.
“I only need 10,000 supporter to buy on at $35 and we will have the best Christmas ever knowing we will be one step closer to giving a voice to the bees and other pollinators,” Childs said.
For their $35, supporters would receive a “Christmas perk” of a Bee Tee (t-shirt), and downloads of three albums of music: Childs’ latest album, It's All a Beautiful Noise; The Vault - a rare collection of unreleased music; and Toni Childs’ Greatest Hits - a two-CD set, the singer said.
The tour will help to spread a positive message about steps people can take to save the world’s bee population.
That message will include not buying chemical products that are contributing to the decline of bees and other pollinators around the world.
“I’m a crowd funding artist now,” Childs said. “And I want to do work that inspires people to make positive changes.”
To get involved, visit tonichilds.com or Childs’ Facebook page.
