Music can heal the soul, and this is a time when that is needed the most.

But with bars, music festivals and concerts all nixed due to COVID-19, there are virtually no venues for performances.

To fill in that gap, Chilliwack鈥檚 Bradley Gionet took a leap of faith and created a Facebook page dedicated to in-home karaoke performances. Within days, the group has grown to include about 2,000 people. And not just from Chilliwack. Members of group span from here to the UK, and all points in between.

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They鈥檙e singing and sending in videos from all over, so far mostly from B.C. and the Pacific Northwest in general. There are fun videos, professional ones, sweet ones, and songs created by whole families.

It was a video that went viral from Italy that spurred on the Facebook group, says Gionet.

鈥淚 was watching these beautiful singers in Italy,鈥� he says. 鈥淎s I watched my friends, colleagues, and family enter into isolation, I realized we needed a pick-me-up.鈥�

Gionet loves to sing, and has shared videos of himself singing in the past. He also was working with several Chilliwack businesses on a true karaoke contest that was supposed to start in April. Like all other events, it has been cancelled to follow the provincial orders to socially isolate.

But the music didn鈥檛 need to stop, he thought. So the posts began.

He says they are 鈥渢otally raw and unedited, just for some joyful moments.鈥�

鈥淭here were so well received, I decided to start the group Coronaoke,鈥� he says, a mix of corona and karaoke.

鈥淲ithin 48 hours we have around 2,000 members,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 am shocked by how far reaching they have gone, and how quickly people have responded and posted their own videos. The biggest happy surprise for me is that I have yet to have to remove a single negative comment. Everyone is having a blast!鈥�

To join the group, make your own video, or just enjoy the ones others have posted, check out 鈥溾�� on Facebook.

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jpeters@theprogress.com
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