IN THE only local appearance of her tour, Wendy Matthews will play at the Gold Coast Arts Centre as part of her Live in the Basement series.

Armed with an expressive voice, Matthews' music has entered more than one million homes in Australia, with her albums to date reaching multi-platinum status.

The Canadian-born singer said she was excited to return to the Gold Coast for an "intimate performance".

"I have not played the Arts Centre before and apparently it's quite intimate, which I'm looking forward to," Matthews said.

"It's me, my piano player and my guitar player doing my greatest hits, but reworked into a smaller band."

It's been quite a journey for the singer who joined her first band and left home as a teenager, busking across the US until a chance meeting with Australian music legend and ex-Little River Band frontman Glenn Shorrock brought her to Australia in 1982 and shaped her career.

"Falling in with Shorrock was a very fortunate thing," Matthews said.

"I went straight into living in Balmain and meeting a lot of musicians that were doing a lot of creative things and that was down to knowing Glenn."

Matthews sang with the likes of Jimmy Barnes, Tim Finn, Richard Clapton and Icehouse, before forging a successful solo career that spawned hits like Token Angels, Let's Kiss, Woman's Gotta Have It and mega-hit The Day You Went Away as well as multiple ARIA awards.

Matthews said the greatest hits' set earmarked for the Arts Centre gig would be guided by the audience, who didn't always realise songs they know and love were hers.

"The setting helps you choose the set list and I'm hyper sensitive to an audience, so it depends on the audiences mood on the night," she said.

WHAT: Wendy Matthews - Live In The Basement

WHEN: Saturday, July 9, 7.30pm

COST: Adults $38, concession $34, group $30

VISIT: The Arts Centre online