“I just want everyone to remain positive and focus on what we need to do to get to the next step in our lives because everyone is in this, it's not just one person, it’s everyone.”

THUNDER BAY - A former Thunder Bay resident has turned to music to remind everyone there are still reasons to be thankful during these trying times.

Shawn Ryan Bruno is a music producer currently based in Vancouver but was born and raised in Thunder Bay. He’s the voice and writer behind the song ‘The Universe - A special thank you to everyone during this pandemic’ which was uploaded to YouTube on March 26.

His inspiration to write the song came from realizing the number of people who are still putting their lives at risk in order to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The virus itself is such a bummer in everyone's life and it's affecting the whole world right now so I thought it's time for me to show how much I appreciate what people are doing,” he said. “I have even gone as far as thanking the people who work at the 7/11 because they are still working and everybody that is still working is risking themselves.”



Bruno, who is has been a music producer for over a decade, wrote the lyrics and produced the song himself.

“I want people to spread the thanks and be thankful that you know, yes we are locked up in our houses, yes, people are becoming more scared to go outside but there are positive things we can look at in this situation,” Bruno said. “People are working hard every single day.”

Bruno hopes that when people listen to his song, they’ll be able to spread the thanks in their own lives.

“I just want everyone to remain positive and focus on what we need to do to get to the next step in our lives because everyone is in this together, it’s not just one person, it’s everyone.”