After three decades as a globe-trekking concert guitarist, twenty albums with the most recent on her own indie label- Moston Records, and a controversial autobiographical book [In My Own Key/My Life in Love and Music;©1998 Moston Productions Inc.; Stoddart Publishing Company; Toronto, Canada], Liona Boyd is beginning a new chapter in her life. At the time of our telephone interview, in the midst of an amicable divorce and having recently relocated from Los Angeles to Miami, Liona was set to move yet again to permanent digs in a nearby Miami island neighborhood. With roots in both the pop and classical worlds and gifted as a composer as well as a performer, Liona Boyd shares a wealth of experience and guitar-related information in this candid interview.

Stephen Rekas
Guitar Sessions Editor

Liona Boyd: How far did you get in my book?
Stephen Rekas: Only about five chapters.
Well, I'm glad you're reading it in sequence. What so many people in Canada did is simply excerpt the Trudeau parts, so I'm glad you started at the beginning.

Those parts won't be the focus of our interview.
Good! It was an important part of my personal life but I was upset when people presumed that that was what the whole book was about. You're probably enjoying some of my anecdotes about the guitar world.

Yes! That's what I really want to focus on, but if I might diverge from my usual interview format for a moment… You have toured the world as a concert guitarist and I'm sure there were many options available to you in terms of places you might live. What drew you to Florida?
It's a long story, but last year I decided to get divorced and start a new life here. It's been a big change for me and not always easy, but I love living in Florida, speaking Spanish and being in a warm climate. I have many friends here now although I basically moved here knowing nobody. Miami is like a Latin American city within North America which is really appealing to me as I love the Latin culture. That's actually what drew me in. I had been coming here for some of my recording projects, and every time I discovered more I liked about Miami. I was here years ago and really didn't care for it too much, but now I've discovered a vibrant city full of people from all over the world and I've always wanted to live in a tropical place.

I've been living on an island which is great for beach walks and riding bicycles. As we speak I am looking out at the water. California was often so cold and I'd had enough of chilly weather living all those years in Canada. I was talking to my soon-to-be ex-husband this morning. He said, "It's cold and overcast here in Los Angeles" and as I was swinging in my hammock I said, "Well here, it's warm and beautiful!" Fortunately it has been a pretty amicable divorce. We just wanted different things in our lives. I needed to focus again on my music and not have someone resenting the time I spent with my guitar.

My husband used to say, "There are three people in this marriage-me, you, and the guitar." Even though he was proud of what I had done he was sort of jealous of the guitar and that was always an ongoing problem. So I guess my autobiography will need a sequel one of these days.

I was last in Miami in 2002 for the GFA [Guitar Foundation of America] Conference. The Latin element was definitely noticeable. The waterfront area was full of music. Everywhere I went, there was Latin music and it wasn't just for tourists. Cuban bands would play at night and the locals would all go out and dance.
Miami is a high-energy place with the influx of people from all over the world, especially the Latin world. The city is still under construction as you might have noticed. There's a new Performing Arts Center going in and they are redeveloping the heart of the downtown, redoing it all so it's really being transformed.

You speak at least three languages, don't you?
English, Spanish and French. Five years of Latin didn't do me that much that much good but at least I can get by with Italian.

And you've studied the guitar in France as well.
Oh yes! I spent two years taking private lessons in France with Alexandre Lagoya.

I once heard Alexandre Lagoya in an outdoor concert in Barcelona. It was held in the courtyard of the Hospital Antiguo, which now serves as an arts and crafts school.
Wow that's great! Was he performing with his wife or solo?

He was alone. His wife [and duo partner Ida Presti] had already died.
Ah what a shame that was. I played for both of them in Toronto when I was a student. He died a few years ago too. That's one of the sad things about my book- so many of the people I talk about are now dead!

Could you talk about the Lagoya technique? I understand he played from the right side of the fingers.
Yes, sure. He was quite rigid about students adapting to his way of playing with the right side of the nail.

On all fingers?
All fingers.

Except the thumb?
He had a very strange thumb with a very long nail that he used to curve at right angles. He reinforced it with crazy glue. He had a very different kind of thumb technique, but that was just the way his nail grew. He had an entire school of followers who always played off the right side. I know quite a few guitarists who used that concept but in the end switched back to a more traditional technique. I was recently talking to Eli Kassner, my guitar teacher in Toronto, and he told me that some of the Quebec players who learned the right-side technique had developed serious hand problems over the years. I stopped using Lagoya's hand position maybe twenty years ago. I used it when I was studying with him and I did my first couple of records using that technique, and then gradually kind of alternated and bit by bit went more towards the traditional, which I found is a more relaxed and natural technique for the right hand.

I'm in favor of a hand position that allows the greatest flexibility of dynamics and tone color. That's what I would always recommend to students; don't be rigid about using just one technique. If you can paint the music with as many colors as possible using different angles of the nail to get different effects, it makes the playing much more interesting. Some guitarists play every note almost the same, but I try to get as much as I possibly can from the limited resources of the guitar. One of the beauties of the guitar is that you can get so many different colors from it.

The guitar really is the master of tone color.
Absolutely! The piano can't compete. We can't compete with pianists as far as volume but they cannot compete with guitarists as far as the subtle shadings that you get with different nail effects and different pressures of the fingers. And also with different finger positions of the left hand- you know this as a guitarist yourself, but perhaps I'm speaking to some people who may not know the guitar well- you can play the same note in different positions on the fingerboard and get completely different colors.

Now, when you say Lagoya played off the right side of the nail, did he file the nails in a non-symmetrical manner or were they a traditional crescent shape?
He had them angled up a little bit to the right. Everybody's nails are a little bit different. Unlike many guitarists I've always kept my nails quite long, and luckily I've had strong ones. If I break one on tour I use one of those player's nails, but I try to avoid them if possible, and I prefer to reinforce my nails with crazy glue. Chet Atkins taught me that trick years ago and I always take it with me whenever I travel. It saved my performances many times! Gosh, if I added up all the hours in my lifetime that I've spent experimenting with nails….! I'm sure many guitarists would say the same thing…filing, and then looking underneath, and then polishing them, and then trying to get that exact perfect angle, and then your nails grow out and you have to start again. It's an ongoing battle. I think you never get the ideal shape. At least I never do so I'm always experimenting.

Besides playing from the right side, what were Lagoya's contributions to your technique?
He helped make me a more expressive player. It's fascinating how every guitarist's performance very much reflects his or her own unique personality. To me, some players who are overly focused on perfect technique do not sound as musical as someone with lesser skills but who puts more passion into the music. Lagoya was very expressive and used different dynamic levels. He helped me with that and with specific pieces. I did quite a bit of Bach with him, working on different techniques for the right hand, for example, a three-finger trill which I later showed to Lenny Breau, where you alternate paim. I often use that in Baroque music. Anyway, Lagoya taught me that. He also taught me a way of doing pizzicato where the little finger would damp the strings.

Now that's neat! You mean you muffle specific strings near the bridge with just your pinky finger rather than using the heel or side of the hand?
Yeah. Just little techniques like that. He also inspired me a lot. I think in the end, that's almost the most important thing. Julian Bream was my first inspiration; he really changed my life when I heard him in concert. When you begin playing the guitar you need those moments of inspiration to suddenly make you want to become better and work towards a goal…first of all to emulate those teachers and then to come up with your own distinctive style.

I was very fortunate to have had many different teachers. I started guitar quite late, at thirteen. I was no child prodigy but I caught up fast. At the beginning I studied with John Perrone, then for many years with Eli Kassner. I also took some lessons with Alirio Diaz and with Andrés Segovia when he came to Toronto and New York. Narciso Yepes gave me some private lessons and in addition I took master classes with Alice Artzt, Oscar Ghiglia, and Julian Bream. Through the Toronto guitar Society I was lucky to meet all the big names of the guitar world.

Bream was one of my early inspirations too. I listened to a lot of John Williams and Julian Bream at the beginning. Who did you listen to?
Yes, I listened endlessly to Bream. I had everything he recorded from his Baroque and Spanish records to his recordings of contemporary pieces. Of course, I also listened to Segovia…ha-ha, in between Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones!

How about now?
Now…well I admit I do listen to a lot of Latin music. What can I say? I try to keep in touch with the guitar world. I'm really good friends with people like Christopher Parkening and the Romeros. Whenever they're in town I go to their concerts and we talk and gossip. But I admit I'm not as fanatic as I was about rushing out to buy every new album.

I feel sorry for a lot of the young guitarists coming out of the universities these days because every university pretty much has a guitar department and it's so competitive for the poor graduates. I was a bit ahead of the rush and for a while, there was really no other woman guitarist, hence the name that CBS gave me, "The First Lady of the Guitar". It actually originated from a magazine article, which I was always a little bit embarrassed about, but I guess it somehow stuck. I'm delighted to see now that there are many more women playing the guitar.

Oh many! There's an incredible amount of talent in the younger generation.
Yes, from Eastern Europe and Japan. I remember when I went to China the playing level was really, really low. But I'm expecting there will be some really great guitar player coming out of China any minute! When I did a master class there, hundreds of people just suddenly showed up. And everywhere I played in the Far East there was a very high level of playing. I remember giving master classes in Malaysia and Indonesia. Oh my goodness, people were presenting very advanced pieces…and I'm talking twenty years ago.

What were the concepts like there in terms of interpreting Western music?
Oh they got it completely. They even had the same records, mostly pirated! They obviously have some good teachers. In recent years standards keep going up and up. Wow, Germany is full of great guitarists too!

Would you comment on your repertoire selection over the years?
I've had kind of a different career than many traditional classical guitarists because I've straddled both worlds. I've gone in and out of the pop world and the classical. You already know that if you're familiar with some of my records. As a guitarist you can do that. With other instruments you'd have trouble, but the guitar is the ultimate so-called, cross-over instrument. You can play such a variety of music and it's so versatile.

I love it because I've always had an interest in other types of music. I'm not a jazz player; that's a whole other discipline. I'm also not a flamenco player. I appreciate those styles very much but basically my style is classical. I have enjoyed being able to do some projects like my Camino Latino/Latin Journey album which is being released in the U.S. this fall. On that album I used a lot of Latin rhythms; at least, it's my interpretation of their music, obviously not authentic Latin music- but we used different percussion instruments and there are so many different performers who contributed to that album: Strunz and Farah, Al DiMeola, Steve Morse, Jessie Cook, Luís Villegas, Johannes Linstead, Pavlo, etc. The album has a vocal piece on it featuring a singer who was supposed to be the next great Latin singer, another Ricky Martin, but he got dropped by his major label right after we recorded him.

The album came out two years ago in Canada but I held it back in the U.S. because of the situation with the singer; it's a long story, but it's finally out.

That's too bad. Are you familiar with the percussion instrument called the cajón?
Oh yes!

Did you use that by any chance?
I'm not positive. I think we might have used that on my samba piece with Jessie Cook. The cajón is Spanish isn't it? I believe I've seen it in flamenco…

It's from Latin-America I believe but has been picked up by Spanish flamenco tablaos. I think it lends quite a lot to the flamenco ensemble. I really like it.

I'm not positive that was the instrument that we actually used but I think so. Ha-ha, as you see I'm no expert on percussion, I just know what sounds good! We used a wide variety of Persian percussion instruments but don't ask me their names.

Did you ever play on steel strings?
No. It was always classical, nylon strings. Even when I was playing my electric classic guitar when I did the Persona tour it was using nylon-stringed instruments.

And otherwise pretty much staying with the Ramirez?
Well these days, even though I did many of my recordings on Ramirez guitars, I'm playing a German Vasquez Rubio made in Los Angeles by a luthier who is originally from Mexico. I really like the sound that his best guitars produce. I still have a couple of Yamaha guitars that Yamaha made especially for me when I toured and recorded over there. I also have a Jim Redgate guitar from Australia and a Barbero from Spain but I just sold that. When I was moving I decided to downsize my collection. But Ramirez, yes they're wonderful instruments and many of my recordings have been done on them.

I'm curious- Does the Vasquez Rubio have a slighter shorter string length?
Yes it does. It's a little bit easier to play and that's another reason. It's a variety of things; it's a very light guitar and nicely balanced. As I lived in L.A., I had my pick of the best ones. Camino Latino was done with a spruce Vasquez Rubio.

I'm a big advocate of luthiers. I've been going to luthier shops since living in Spain thirty years ago.
Mmm that's nice. Well, it's so individual. Everybody has different likes and dislikes in guitars. I've never found the ideal perfect instrument. I'm still looking.

What inspired you to play the guitar in the first place?
When I was 13, my parents asked me what I wanted for Christmas and they gave me a guitar along with some lessons, but what really inspired me was going to a Julian Bream concert with my mother. That's when I asked to have lessons with the top teacher in Toronto, Eli Kassner (Segovia student, b. Vienna 1924) and it became my great hobby, my passion. I ended up dropping ballet, which at that time was very important to me. I didn't have time with high school and guitar and ballet, so the guitar won out, thank goodness!

So you began at 13. Did you go straight to private lessons on the guitar?
Yes, I originally took some lessons with a guitarist in a local shopping mall and I did my 15 minutes a day. Everything changed once I heard Bream. A few months after that concert, I was really motivated and went to study with Eli Kassner. I joined the Toronto Guitar Society and went to a lot of their concerts; then I started playing small recitals. Eli Kassner was also my teacher at the University of Toronto where years later I studied and got a Bachelor's degree in music; it was really nice that they gave me an Honorary Doctorate there this last November.

Well that's wonderful. Congratulations!
Eli Kassner attended and he's the one who put the honorary doctoral hood around my neck. What a nice full circle that must have been!

Actually, it would be really great if you would mention that on my classicalguitar.com website under "Newsletter" I've included the acceptance speech I gave when I was given the honorary Doctor of Laws degree. It's a convocation speech that kind of sums up my philosophy of life and it's hopefully an inspirational speech for young people. I'm sure you'll have a lot of young players reading this as well as aspiring performers. I think it makes some good points.

Sure, we'll provide a link to it.
[ Liona Boyd's 2004 honorary doctoral address to the faculty and graduates of the University of Toronto can be found at:
http://www.classicalguitar.com/newsletter.htm ]

Has your focus always been the classical guitar?
Yes it was always really the classical guitar all the while. I loved listening to folk, pop and rock music, but it was mostly classical music that I loved to play. I started doing little guitar society concerts and that's how my career got launched. Then I went to study with Alexandre Lagoya in Quebec and he invited me to continue study with him in Paris.

Were those lessons in his home or did he have a separate studio?
No, he taught his other students at the conservatory. I would sometimes attend the group classes there, but mostly I went to his home. He was often away on tour. He had an idea of forming a guitar quartet using me, but that never panned out because he got too busy with his own concerts. The other two players who were going to be in the quartet could also not commit as they were also rather busy.

You played with the original First Nashville Guitar Quartet with Chet Atkins, John Knowles and John Pell, didn't you?
Yes, right. That was never an actual touring quartet. It was Shel Silverstein's idea, you know- the author, cartoonist, lyricist and musician; he was a great friend of Chet's and when we met he suggested, "Oh, we should make a quartet," and then Chet got excited about the idea and he asked two of the best studio musicians in Nashville. We recorded in Chet's basement in his own home studio. He edited one of my records too. Chet was very helpful in my career. He got me on shows like the Today Show and had me play as a special guest on some of his concerts. And then when I had a couple of television specials up in Canada, he was my guest. Anyway, I miss him a lot.

Many of our readers are very familiar with Chet Atkins. Can you share any personal anecdotes about him?
I had never even heard of him until I went to play a concert in Nashville and someone said, "Oh you must meet Mr. Guitar; he runs the RCA offices here," so I went over to his office and played for him. He was so friendly and humble. What impressed me the most was that he was always learning; he would always try to discover new guitar techniques like that little trill that I told you I had learned from Lagoya. He was quite intrigued with that and he learned it right away and he in turn showed it to Lenny Breau. Breau used to call it the "Liona lick", though they called me "Ly-ona" because Chet's wife's name was Leona! And so Chet would always say Ly-ona, and whenever he would call me at my home in Beverly Hills where I'd lived for the last thirteen years, my husband would always say, "Well, it must be Chet on the line; he's asking for Ly-ona." Nice Southern drawl he had. Anyway, I felt really badly for him in the last years when he could no longer play the guitar. He said, "Ly-ona, life without the guitar is just not worth living. I play golf and try to be cheerful but I can't play guitar anymore." So I felt really bad for him. If guitar is your passion- and nobody understands that more than me- being without it is tragic.

In mid-July I was at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention. I've been going since '97 and it's always an ear-expanding experience. Have you ever been to the CAAS convention?
No, I had really hoped to. I even had a ticket booked a few years ago, but really couldn't make it as my life got a little crazy. My friend Muriel Anderson always goes. I just couldn't fit it into my schedule. Chet had so many diehard fans and he deserves it. We used to joke and he'd say, "Ly-ona, don't y'know, like man, I'm a living legend!" He always had a great sense of humor.

Do you play any instruments besides the guitar?
Not really. My first instrument was the treble recorder; then I played alto recorder and melodica. In high school I played oboe for one week but soon switched to the clarinet. But guitar is a full-time job! I play very basic piano. I have a nice old piano here but it gets a bit neglected.

You toured with Gordon Lightfoot and Tracy Chapman …
Oh yes, we did tons of concerts.

Did you play together or open for them?
I didn't play with them. I did the first part of the shows. With Tracy, I played all over Europe; it was a wonderful experience performing in every opera house in Europe- and the audiences went crazy. She got a little upset at how well I was received. On the other hand, Gordon Lightfoot always relished that and he would bring me out at the end of the concerts for an extra bow. He was awed when his audiences, which were basically a folk crowd, showed so much appreciation for my classical guitar. Poor Gordon; he went through a real scare last year; he was in the hospital and they never thought he'd make it. But anyway, he's back! He did a new record and he's back touring; my parents just went to his concert in Toronto.

What was wrong with him?
He had some really bad stomach problem and everybody thought he was very close to death. I talked to him a couple of times and we never thought he'd sing again. It's a miracle that he's back on stage! I'm very happy for him.

I saw him once in the Midwest at the Mississippi River Festival on the campus of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. The festival was in a marvelous outdoor amphitheater with the performers on stage in kind of an elegant circus tent. I remember particularly the song about the shipwreck on Lake Superior.
"The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald"! I used to know it all by heart. It was his "sound check" piece.

What a jewel of a folk tune! I was in Duluth not too long ago. There is a maritime museum there with a display about the Edmond Fitzgerald.
Oh yes. When we played Duluth the whole town came out and there was a big reception afterwards with the mayor and all the city officials. It was amazing. In fact, when I toured with him, that record was number one on all the charts. Every festival that we played, every hockey rink, stadium, or arena was sold out.

For me it was a fantastic opportunity, I only wish my record company had been smarter. They didn't even know who Gordon Lightfoot was! I told them, "Every night we are playing for ten to twenty thousand people; shouldn't you be getting my albums into these cities? I was with London Records in those days and they just didn't get it. It was very frustrating; some of those record labels would drive me crazy. Maybe that's why, in the end, I formed my own label, Moston Records. The good thing is that you can decide what to do and when. The bad thing is that I don't have the international distribution like when I was with CBS.

All the same, what an opportunity to be an ambassador for the guitar!
Oh absolutely! I must have brought many people to appreciate classical guitar. I just know that because I had lots of fan mail that said, "We'd never heard of classical guitar before we saw you. We didn't even know that you were going to be playing. Now we we've bought yours and Segovia's records." You know, that was really satisfying for me. That had been a bit of my mission in a way, because I realized that the guitar could appeal to a wide range of people, and I was able to present it in such a popular way, even though I was playing pretty heavy classical stuff in those days…but the audiences were very, very appreciative. I'm sure Segovia would have gone berserk if he had seen some of the massive venues that I played- with a huge stack of speakers blasting out my music so loud, but it was certainly a unique experience for me.

Segovia was a stickler about that. I saw him twice in Orchestra Hall in Chicago and if anyone so much as ruffled a program he would just stop and glare at them and put his guitar face down on his lap until he had absolute silence. It made me very uncomfortable although I was a good listener.
He was a little bit too rigid. Those are the reasons I never went to study with him in Santiago de Compostela. He was not pleased when I would change his fingerings or transpose something into a different key. I guess I was always a bit too creative and experimental to follow exactly in somebody's footsteps.

What was the name of the rock band you were with?
Oh well, it was my band. I mean, maybe "rock" is the wrong term but we had drums and keyboards. I was standing up there with an electric guitar, with my hair spiked and wearing leather pants. It's the closest I ever got to "rock" but I was still basically playing classical guitar style even if I had my band.

Did the band record?
No I never did any live recordings with my band. There were some television specials but nothing that you can buy.

That's too bad.
It is a shame. I wish I could have made a film or something on that whole tour. It was really interesting.

Now you're in the studio quite a bit as a matter of course. Do you also record yourself in practice as a discipline?
No, not really.

How do you go about preparing for a concert in the long and short term? Let's say two months ahead and then the same day?
Two months ahead, I make sure I know everything, being sure it's really memorized and that I have some "pick-up places" in case I get lost! Especially in say, Baroque music; that preparation has often saved my life because I know that if I ever experience a memory blank, I can pick it up in a certain place. Overall, just being very familiar with the whole structure of the piece is very important.

On the day of the concert, I don't overplay. Actually, I always find that playing the day before has more benefits. On the day of the concert, I make sure that I always have my hands really warm. One of my crutches that I used to use and still do to this day is to put a hot water bottle backstage and warm my hands just before I go on. That's always been helpful because I've had the experience in the past of having to play with cold hands and it was a real struggle, especially at some of the outdoor concerts. If you're cold it's hard to make your fingers do what you want them to or be relaxed and able to focus on the music.

Sometimes on a tour, you might arrive late and everything's gone wrong. I've had all kinds of experiences like that where you just basically get thrown on the stage and have to wing it. But sometimes those are the best concerts! Sometimes if you over prepare, it doesn't work. Every concert is different and it's one of the things that I enjoy most about performing- the complete 100% concentration, that you just focus on one thing, which is your guitar. In the course of a day, your mind is continuously being distracted by many other things; even when you are practicing, you know, the phone will ring or you'll be interrupted. By contrast, in a concert everybody is there just to share this unique moment in time and with the classical guitar- oh my goodness- nobody breathes! It's very focused and you can enter another mental state. It's almost like a spiritual experience. The best concerts, I find, are like that- when you go into another dimension.

You've made twenty albums, or more?
Yes, 20 altogether with a couple of compilations.

And what is your personal favorite among them?
That's such a hard question. Although I've never had children, each one of my albums is like my baby and has been done with so much care. The easiest album I ever did was the one in Tokyo, Liona: Live in Tokyo, because it was just basically a live concert.

Which one would you recommend to someone buying one of your albums for the first time?
Well, for someone who likes Spanish music, The Spanish Album seems to be one of my best sellers these days. The one that I'm the proudest of is called Classically Yours, because I wrote all the music. As I mentioned, my most recent album is Camino Latino. I also have one that's coming out in October called Romanza which has a piece that uses that two-string trill I mentioned; it's called "Dance of the Mexican Butterflies". I wrote it in Acapulco. It's quite a challenging piece technically, and I hadn't released it before. There is also a piece in tremolo called Canción para mi Madre "Song for My Mother". Romanza is a compilation album, so it has some pieces that haven't been out for many, many years like "Guajira" by Pujol. I remember playing that in Havana years ago. I haven't played it in quite awhile. But all my albums are very different. For example I have one with The English Chamber Orchestra, two Christmas albums and one with romantic poetry and guitar.

With Camino Latin I'm very pleased with the way that it came out because there's such a variety with all the different players. I don't play with picks but having all those outstanding players like Steve Morse, Al DiMeola, Luís Villegas, Jessie Cook, and Strunz & Farah- combining their techniques with my classical technique… I had a producer who's an absolute fanatic for sound and getting everything just so; Richard Fortin- he's a brilliant guy; I've worked with him for years. He did a lot of the arrangements and he wrote some of the pieces for me. It's a very happy album. People loved it when it came out in Canada where it became a best seller, so I'm hoping it will do well in the States, even though I'm not touring at this point to promote it.

Well, it certainly sounds like you had the right guests on Camino Latino.
Yeah and I shot a couple of videos in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. You can see little excerpts of them on my website. The website, by the way has recently been redesigned. Now it's all animated; it's got waves and birds and more music. It's also easier for people to purchase my music, videos and books.

Looking at technique and repertoire, do you teach at all?
No, but I'm thinking of maybe doing some private lessons in the future. Right now my life is so busy that I don't even have time to even play as much guitar as I would like. For me that always takes priority. I play every day but need to get back to doing more!

Is that the ideal practice routine then, when you have large blocks of time?
Yeah. I love to do three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. That's the ideal, and I occasionally do that, but living on my own and having to manage so many things in my life- it's a bit time consuming. And I've just moved again-that's another pain in the neck. People keep asking me if I will give master classes or private lessons. It's definitely something that I might do in the future.

I think you'd find a ready clientele.
Yes, I guess I would. Getting back to practice, it varies really. It's usually a mix of learning some new pieces and then keeping up some of the old ones. I still do quite a few technical exercises to keep my fingers limber. In the past, I used to make charts of how long I'd practiced and make lists of pieces, and I checked them off when I'd done them. Whatever helps! If that works for somebody, I'd obviously recommend it. Memorize things- I like to do that earlier in the day because I'm more focused and then I use the evening for playing through repertoire and all.

What do you do to keep your repertoire sounding fresh?
I don't know; just don't try to play everything every day. I alternate my pieces. The most important thing, I find, is that you choose pieces that you really love. You can play them a thousand time and they don't tire you. When I was at the university, often I had to play pieces that I really didn't like, but that was part of my education. And now I have the luxury of being able to choose the pieces that really are meaningful to me.

I read in the Rico Stover's biography of Agustín Barrios that before the age of air travel, Barrios would travel to a city at great expense and hardship. To make the journey worthwhile, he would then stay with a benefactor for maybe a month at a time. In that time, he would give perhaps three concerts with entirely new repertoire for each, as well as performances in outlying communities. That means Barrios would have had to have three full programs basically under his fingers all the time.
Right. He was a genius and was able to do that. I guess I often have two programs ready as when I play cruise ships I have a different, more popular repertoire at hand. I also have some standards that I use for television shows. I do some concertos with orchestra but I never have had three entire programs all up at once. But I can always quickly revive some old pieces; after practicing a bit it comes back. I have always liked to play with pieces memorized and don't like to use music on stage. I've never done that other than occasionally with a concerto.

So to me, it's very important to have the pieces become part of you and play without looking at the scores. I would take every opportunity to play, and still do to this day. I just played in the Washington airport the other day. I thought, "I've got two hours to kill I can find some little place in the lounge, or ladies washroom or whatever, somewhere where I can just play and not be bothered. I was having my Lexus serviced the other day and I took my guitar to the dealer and had to wait while they were putting the new Navigator system in. They said, "Oh you brought your guitar?" I said, "Yes, do you have a little office?" So I got two hours of practice in. I'm always trying to squeeze the guitar into my busy days.

Do you endorse any brand of strings?
I use Savarez strings and I've endorsed them for years. I occasionally use D'Addario for certain guitars. I don't really endorse any guitar formally, but in the past I have given credit to Vasquez Rubio, Ramirez and Yamaha. I don't have an endorsement deal right now so I'm free to say whatever I want about any guitar!

Can you offer any suggestions about forming a concert repertoire?
I think it's important to have a good variety and to choose pieces that have an emotional impact on you, and then you can convey that to the audience. If you're bored with a piece and or play it as an intellectual exercise, then the audience is going to pick up on that. Choose pieces that you have a real feeling for, pieces that say something, and obviously choose pieces that are not beyond your technique. I particularly love melodic music, but that's my thing. I like pieces where the melody stays with me.

I once interviewed Carlos Barbosa-Lima and he emphasized the importance of arranging, and composing a portion of one's own concert repertoire. Do you put a lot of emphasis on that as well?
That became more and more important in my career as the years went by. I realized that I had a talent for composing. It was never really encouraged at the university or even by my guitar teachers, but that's why I'm so particularly proud of the pieces I've written; like on the Classically Yours album. There are not too many classical guitarists who have written as much music as I have; in addition, I was always rearranging and transcribing pieces. I did a lot of that over the years and that's probably what's given me a unique repertoire. You don't want to be copying your teachers or have the same repertoire as everybody else. I like pieces that are quite accessible; you don't have to listen to them ten times before you really understand them. And because I've had this kind of cross-over audience where it's not always a strictly classical guitar following, that accessibility is important. I want pieces that will appeal to a broad spectrum of listeners, especially when touring.

Do you arrange your tours yourself like Bream used to?
Well, I have someone who books them for me. No, I'm not there collecting the money like Bream used to. I read in his book that he used to stuff all the cash in his boot or something. No, I don't do that! My agent/manager lives in Canada. I have arranged some of the international things myself through different promoters that I met over the years. My agent is getting a bit itchy now saying, "When are you going to start touring again?" I told him, "Next year we'll begin again."

I've toured for 30 years non-stop all over the world and it is very grueling; I did 45 concerts in Canada to support the Camino Latino tour- me with five guys and the manager. It was a hard tour, every night in a different place. And a lot of air fares; it was real expensive. Segovia was pretty smart, just himself and a guitar, not even a microphone. But the audience loved the last tour because I was playing some with the band and then some solo, some South American music, some Spanish, some classical. I had a special guest, Pavlo <http://www.pavlo.net/>, and we took turns playing. We also did a TV special in Canada.

Wow, I wish they'd broadcast those things down here.
Yes, I wish! You might be able to see some of my videos on a cable TV show called Classic Arts Showcase. It is also sometimes seen on PBS and Galaxy 1, Channel 5.

You have performed for the British Royal Family. Are Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip particular fans of the classic guitar?
Prince Phillip has been a fan of mine for years so I guess you could say that, but I don't know that he's a fan of other classical guitarists. I really have no clue, but he's been a great friend. He's the one who arranged a lot of the concerts that I've played in England. I've played for the Queen a few times, but it's Phillip who writes to me all the time. I have a whole collection of letters from him. He even took me on his plane; he flew me himself- he is just a huge fan of my music. I am thrilled that he loves my music so much and there is NO romance, I assure you! He's very well behaved. A few years ago the Queen and Prince Phillip invited my husband and I to spend a night at Windsor Castle- yes, we slept overnight at the castle and had breakfast there the next day. That was great! The Queen's dog almost bit my nose off! Those Corgis are not too friendly. We had dinner and I gave a private concert. I wrote a piece for them called "Serenade for a Summer's Evening".

That's the one you contributed to the Master Anthology of New Classic Guitar Solos, I believe.
Yes, that's right; that's the one.

Can you share any more details about how that came about?
Well, one day I received a call from Buckingham Palace. They said that the Queen and Prince Phillip request your company and would you like to have dinner and stay and be their houseguests at Windsor Castle. I knew Prince Phillip must have been behind it, so of course I said, "Sure, absolutely!" Then I thought it would be nice to write something special for the occasion so I wrote this piece in the style of Fernando Sor's "Estudio # 17" and I had it all beautifully copied out and bound and presented it to the Queen. I've done a lot of charity work for them too, for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and the World Wildlife Fund. I just got a letter from Prince Phillip the other day. I had asked him, "Do you know any people in Miami?" He doesn't come to the USA very often but he said they'd just been in Canada. Anyway, yes, he's a real friend. It's nice to have friend in high places!

Is your cat Muffin with you in Miami?
No, no, what a shame. My husband never even liked cats when I first brought little Muffin into our house but gradually he became crazy about him and they're now like best friends, so I ended up having to leave him in California. I have Muffin pictures all over my kitchen but unfortunately, I just couldn't break his heart by taking Muffin away and right now my life is a bit in limbo, so I didn't want to have such a responsibility. Muffin is a full time job! He lives in a Beverly Hills mansion and has two men, my husband and former housekeeper, a man from Sri Lanka, who are both in love with him and spoiling him rotten. He's a very happy pussycat, possibly the most spoiled kitty in the world. He even did his own TV special and he's in my new video. That's one of the reasons I did it before I left- because I knew I was leaving and I was going to have to leave my beloved Muffin and I didn't have a video of him. It's so cute; he's walking through the garden with me and his paws are exactly in time with my feet and he looks like a little tiger walking through the grass. So you see I have had to make many sacrifices for my guitar.

What impact has your biography - In My Own Key: My Life in Love and Music had on your life?
I was actually pretty peeved, let's put it like that- by the way it was treated by some of the Canadian press. The book came out in Canada right when the whole Monica Lewinski thing happened. The press focused so much on that chapter in my life-my relationship with Pierre Trudeau- which was an important eight-year relationship for me but it just distracted people from what I was really about, which is the guitar.

I had the perfect title for the book; it was going to be called With Strings Attached but the editor and publishers said, "No, no, no; that's too negative. It has a very negative feel and we have to rename it. We're going to call it In My Own Key-My Life in Love and Art." I said "Art? People are going to think I'm an artist; we at least have to put the word "music" in. And In My Own Key sounds a little bit pretentious," but they said, "No, no, no, that's what we want, as you did it all in your own key." The title is the only thing they insisted on. The rest is 100% mine. I wrote the whole book myself but my mother helped on some of the editing as I had to cut it down by a third.

Could we use, "With Strings Attached" as a subtitle for this interview?
Sure!

That'll be great!
"Liona Boyd: With Strings Attached"- Yeah, with strings attached. Someone else will probably take that title and use it for their book. Well, my motivation for doing it was #1- I've always enjoyed writing; I've always enjoyed words and I wanted to give back a little something to all the fans over the years. I've had so many thousands of letters from people who obviously have been very touched by my music and had an impact on their lives. People have even named their kids after me! Liona was a unique name created by my parents, until people started calling their kids by my name. But it's a great tribute. I had always received such great feedback from the people who enjoy my music, so I thought I'd like to share the behind-the-scenes things. They only see me on the stage or read my interviews. They have no way to know the behind-the-scenes things that go on when you have a career such as mine. The book allowed me to do that.

I received a lot of great letters from people who like my music after that I thought, "Well, to heck with the press; I didn't write the book for them. I wrote it for the people who appreciate my music." One day, maybe I'll write a sequel as this is definitely a new chapter in my life.

I made a lot of sacrifices for the guitar by not having children, and not really settling down in one place. Guitar has always come first in my life and it still does to this day. Looking around me now, I can see my four guitars. I kind of enjoy living alone, I can play guitar at two in the morning if I want to. I can get up and play and I don't have anybody telling me, "Ugh, are you going to practice guitar AGAIN," or "Can't we go out to dinner?"

I feel really lucky at this stage that I can basically decide what I want to do with my life. I'm very lucky to live in a place that I'm enjoying so much and I have the freedom to be able to focus on being creative.

What's the next big project?
Oh, I'm afraid it's under raps! I cannot tell you but it's definitely a big project that I have underway. I have to keep it a secret for now though.

But listen, maybe there's a hurricane coming here next week, I don't know. I think from time to time you have to give yourself big challenges in life. If you just stay in the rut that many people find themselves in, especially in middle age, you might look back and think, "Oh, my life used to be so exciting." Well, I want to continue to have an exciting life! I just feel like I have a whole new lease on life and a new set of friends here. If one day I have another important man in my life and I get married again, that would be great. Right now I'm happy being single, just spending time with my guitar and having a rich variety of experiences. I sometimes do tango or salsa dancing and walk on the beach in the evening or ride my bike. There are just so many things to do. I've brought a lot of my paintings here but I haven't had time to do any more painting.

Is that oil painting?
Yeah both my parents are artists so I guess it's in my genes.

Any other interests besides the guitar? I know you have mentioned your involvement with animal rights groups.
Yes, I try to support as many of those as I can. And give concerts whenever I can for good causes, absolutely. I think it's very, very sad what we do to animals in this world of ours. We abuse them and take them for granted. Of course, there are a lot of good people working to help animals that balance it out. But it's still unforgivable what happens to millions of them each year in laboratories. That's been a particular focus of mine- trying to help laboratory animals. Man is the cruelest of all animals.

Life is an adventure and I believe that every day you should pack as much as you can into it. People thought, "Oh, you were going to Miami because you knew a lot of people there." Well, I really didn't. When I came here I just had a feeling that this was the right place for me, and now I've got a whole group of new friends. It's taken a bit of time to establish that. Here I love the ocean breezes, I love seeing the sunrises and the sunsets. I told my parents in Toronto that I might be flying up there any minute when the next hurricane comes because I moved here in the middle of one last year.

Where else have you been recently?
Well the people who run my website live in Washington D.C. and they've been fans of mine for years. They're really, really nice people from New Zealand and I sometimes go and stay with them. They usually put me to work signing videos and CDs. When I go up there it's a working trip! I was also in Dubrovnik, Croatia this summer.

Have any Mel Bay books or solo publications found their way into your repertoire?
I've bought Mel Bay books over the years, taken pages from them and learned a lot from them. I think you are a wonderful, wonderful company. Mel Bay Publications is an important company in the guitar world, and I'm pleased that I'm included in your new book [Master Anthology of New Classic Guitar Solos 99740BCD] whenever it comes out.

Do you plan on returning to the life of a touring guitarist?
When I get back touring I'll probably start by doing a big cross-Canada tour because that's where I can sell out every hall.

Well, that must be some reassurance as a concert artist.
I'm really lucky that I have such a big fan base up there, I really am. Anyway, after that I hope to resume some US and international concerts.

Who distributes your recordings?
My albums have been distributed in the U.S. through Bayside Entertainment Distribution They should be in a lot of the major stores, but inevitably I go into stores and I don't see them, so I don't know how they could be selling so many. My CDs are always available through www.classicalguitar.com The people there are very efficient and send them out the day they get the orders, so if anybody wants to find any of my albums, books, whatever- that's the best place to go.

I formed my own label Moston Records after I left Sony. Who knows, in retrospect, whether it was the right or wrong move? I don't know. In a way, I'm kind of happy that I left because I have more say in what kind of pieces I do and it gives me more freedom. And who knows, by now I could've been dropped! They have let go of so many artists. The record business is really bad these days with all the piracy and downloading.

I'm just very grateful I have my supporters and fans out there. Over the years I've sold two million records and used to get some amazing royalty statements; I had huge sales in countries where I had never even played. Those things have really settled down now and I just pray for any sales that I have. I think The Classic Arts Showcase keeps my career going and that is broadcast all the way down to South America. A few years ago I went to play in Bogotá with the Symphony Orchestra and everybody knew me. I was like "Wow!" and they said, "We even know the piece!" Then I realized that the "Concerto of the Andes" that I had performed in Costa Rica was on the video and the Bogotá Symphony members were all familiar with it! I'm probably better known for some of my television things as they reach millions of people.

What's the name of your record label again?
Moston: M-O-S-T-O-N, named after my two childhood teddy bears, Moses and Tonka. Now they sit here and watch boats all day. They're pretty happy as they have a record label named after them! They're my lifelong companions that I got for Christmas when I was 4 and 8.

Moses will have to have a sailor suit or something.
That's right- to make him a Miami bear. He's a British bear though and he doesn't like to wear any clothes.

Do they have Build-A-Bear Workshops in Miami?
What's Build-A-Bear?

It's a store where kids can go and build their own teddy bears.
You're kidding? Oh what a great idea! You mean you can choose your own eyes and mouth and stuff?

They essentially sell you a "bear skin" and you put a heart and an identity chip in your bear.
What kind of chip?

An identity chip.
Does it speak?

I think you can get a battery-powered "voice" of some kind, but if your bear gets lost they can trace it back to you through an identity chip.
Oh I see; just like Muffin has a little identity chip in him.

Exactly. Exactly the same!
I see. What will they think of next?

It's been good to talk to you and thank you so much for taking the time while moving and all.
Thank you, Stephen. Bye-bye.

To learn more about Liona Boyd or purchase her recordings, please visit her website at http://www.lionaboyd.com.