Liona Sends Love In the Time Of Corona

By David Farrell

Liona Boyd is sitting pretty in her spacious Floridian Palm Beach winter home as the world around her panics, but don’t for a moment think this beautiful blonde finger plucker is idle.

Never short of a project, Liona has been polishing off a manuscript, whiteboarding her next tour, corresponding with Universal Music Canada about the marketing plan for her newly completed album, and sandwiched between she’s knocked off a song for her worldwide fan base that offers comfort in worrying times.

Writing from the USA Thursday, Liona explains how she’s coping with the new reality:

“Every winter I join tens of thousands of other “Canadian snowbirds” who escape the chilly north in order to enjoy the warm hospitality of our southern neighbour. The sunshine and change of scenery lure us here, yet now with this Coronavirus threat, many have fled home.

“I have spent more than a few restless nights in a dilemma as to what is the best place to be during this nightmarish new reality. I’m still not sure if I was wise to stay, but right now I feel safer in my house on the island of Palm Beach than in a Yorkville condo in crowded central Toronto.

“It’s hard to imagine how or when I’ll be able to safely return. I have not had the company of any other person now for 21 days and I miss being with friends, going to concerts and lectures and strolling the beach. Today there was an eerie feeling as I walked down Worth Avenue where many of the Italian designer stores have been emptied of merchandise. The art galleries and restaurants are all closed with notices posted on the doors and the beaches are sealed off with yellow police tape strung between orange barriers.

“I usually spend my days biking and walking, but the new lockdown order begins tomorrow. Guess I’ll be doing more yoga, emails and video chatting with sister and mother in Kitchener. I‘m always writing and recording demos to new songs and instrumentals so can never be bored with two guitars for company! For the first time, I filmed myself singing and playing using my Mac and made a short video to a simple little song about the Coronavirus that I came up with while riding my bike beside the marina. I hope you enjoy it! Please be safe wherever you are and prayers for the victims and the many brave health care workers.”

And here’s Liona sending Love in the Time of Corona.