Dear Friends,

Greetings on another glorious sunny day here in Southern California. I keep hearing from my friends back East and up in Canada describing blizzards and icy roads, and boy do I ever consider myself lucky to have escaped all that this year! No more snow shoveling and skidding down my driveway. Last week I discovered an orange and a tangerine tree in my back garden and have been enjoying the tree's succulent gifts. Biking to the beach, Argentinian tango dancing, attending local concerts and getting through all my e-mails and daily errands seems to take up a fair bit of time so its nice to relax each day with the guitar and I' m looking forward to the two concerts we have coming up in Cuba in a couple of months.  

Thank you everyone who ordered CDs for Valentines gifts. Jeannie and Al tell me they've been kept busy! Not sure I'll have a valentine date this year, but being the eternal optomist I'm always hopeful:-)

The five hour tribute concert to our much loved guitar teacher / performer / friend Jim Smith who passed away from brain cancer was a most memorable evening and it was lovely to reconnect with my guitar amigos Pepe Romero, Christopher Parkening, Scott Tennant and all the LA Guitar Quartet, Andrew York, Ian Krouse, Lee Ritenour, Harold Micay, Didi Almeida (Laurindo's widow), Gregory Newton, Brian Head, Martha Masters and so many fine people from the guitar community here.

Another very different event I attended was the annual NAMM show in Annaheim for which musical instrument manufacturers from all over the world exhibit their latest guitars, keyboards, trumpets, drums, strings, capos, music magazines etc...wow what a racket!:-) I met up with Bernard Maillot from Lyon, France who makes my wonderful Savarez strings, Harvey Newquist, founder of the soon to be traveling National Guitar Museum, Marc Kasulen who featured me in his Yamaha tribute book, etc etc. All in all even though this time I didn't perform it was a fascinating experience.

Concerts are slowly starting to come in from various places for Srdjan and I so please send any suggestions you might have as we're anxious to keep playing and my agent will follow up with any leads. Thanks!

love,
Liona

PS here's a small advance Valentine gift, the lyrics to one of my songs from LBSSOL called "This Amazing Thing Called Love"

WHAT  MAKES THE WIND SIGH WHEN OUR SOULS ARE ACHING
WHAT MAKES THE CLOUDS CRY WHEN OUR HEARTS ARE BREAKING 
WHAT MOVES THE MOUNTAINS, KEEPS THE STARS STILL GLOWING
WHAT CALMS THE OCEAN, KEEPS THE RIVERS FLOWING

WHAT MAKES US SPREAD OUR WINGS, AND FEEL LIKE FLYING
WHAT BRINGS US TO OUR KNEES WHEN WE'RE ALONE AND CRYING
WHAT GIVES US SUNSHINE WHEN DAYS ARE GREY AND HAZY
WHAT FUELS OUR FANTASIES, AND DRIVES OUR BODIES CRAZY

LOVE KNOWS NO LIMIT, NO TIME, NO SEASON
IT STEALS YOUR HEART WITHOUT RHYME OR REASON
PASSION AND SADNESS, ECSTACY AND MADNESS
WHAT'S THIS AMAZING THING CALLED LOVE
WHAT'S THIS AMAZING THING CALLED LOVE

WHAT MAKES THE MUSIC AND FEELS THE SILENCE
WHAT HEALS THIS WORLD OF OURS AND TAKES AWAY THE VIOLENCE
WHAT MAKES US TIMELESS, BRINGS OUR SOULS TOGETHER
WHAT OTHER THING BUT LOVE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD FOREVER

LOVE KNOWS NO LIMIT, NO TIME, NO SEASON
IT STEALS YOUR HEART WITHOUT RHYME OR REASON
PASSION AND SADNESS, ECSTACY AND MADNESS
WHAT'S THIS AMAZING THING CALLED LOVE
WHAT'S THIS AMAZING THING CALLED LOVE
CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME, PLEASE SOMEBODY TELL ME
WHAT'S THIS AMAZING THING CALLED LOVE

instrumental

WHAT'S THIS AMAZING THING CALLED LOVE
WHAT'S THIS AMAZING THING CALLED LOVE
WHAT'S THIS AMAZING THING CALLED LOVE
WHAT'S THIS AMAZING THING CALLED LOVE