In My Own Key: My Life in Love and Music

by Liona Boyd

"Exotic venues, sold-out concerts, and the companionship of the world's most powerful people have given Liona Boyd a lifestyle few will ever experience. The internationally acclaimed classical guitarist has crossed numerous boundries, both musically and romantically. Whether working with such classical greats as Alexandre Lagoya or with such folk legends as Gordon Lightfoot she has always made music - and lived her life - in her own key. In this colorful memoir she serves up a rich and fascinating childhood with her progressive parents in England, Canada and Mexico; intense and exacting music studies in Toronto and Europe; down-and-out years in London and Paris; drug experimentation in a Mexican artists colony; and whirlwind trips around the globe to eminent concert stages. And who can forget her friendship with Canada's prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau? Here, for the first time, Liona tells the full story behind that relationship. It all makes for a rousing, fiesty, passionate tale, as compelling and entrancing as the music of her Ramirez guitar." Don Bastian, Stoddart Publishing

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Liona Boyd has introduced millions around the world to the art of classical guitar through her concerts, television specials, and twenty seven recordings. Her talents have resulted in five gold and three platinum albums, plus five Juno awards, the Order of Canada, five honorary doctorates and over 4 million YouTube views.

Her first autobiography, In My Own Key...My Life in Love and Music was a best seller in Canada selling over 30,000 copies with two print runs. A sequel to this book, No Remedy for Love, along with an audio book read by Liona herself, will be released in the fall of 2017 by Dundurn Press and is expected to generate considerable media attention.

Canada's “First Lady of the Guitar" has performed extensively throughout Canada, the USA, and 44 other countries. She has had the opportunity to play for dozens of world leaders such as the British Royal Family, the King and Queen of Spain, Presidents of the USA, Mexico and Cuba, the prime ministers of Canada, France and Britain, to name a few. She has recorded with Sir Andrew Davis and the English Chamber Orchestra, Yo Yo Ma, Georges Zamfir and Michael Kamen. Breaking with classical tradition she toured with Gordon Lightfoot and Tracy Chapman, and recorded with Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Al Di Meola, André Gagnon, Roger Whittaker, Olivia Newton-John, Daniel Lavoie, Dan Hill and Jesse Cooke.

Her new show, features original songs from her fall of 2017 album release No Remedy For Love, and favourites from previous ones. Her songs blend elements of folk music, romantic Spanish stylings and popular Latin rhythms. The addition of her new musical partner, Andrew Dolson, brings a youthful energy and vigour to their duo. In 2016, they played to sold-out crowds and standing ovations during their Christmas concerts in concert venues from southern Ontario to Alberta and British Columbia.