Toronto-based singer-songwriter Ryan Wayne takes an unusual trip down memory lane with his new song "Grand Illusions," turning the contents of a 1950s letter into a story shaped by memory, family concerns, fact, and inference, into a track built around a fascinating piece of history and an ensemble of musicians that give the song considerable musical depth.
Wayne wrote and produced "Grand Illusions," telling the story of a letter about a father and husband's fears that his wife will abandon the family to give her time and fortune to the communist party in New York City. The song recreates what happened from the letter's information, making inferences to fill in the gaps between documented facts. "Grand Illusions" shows where history and songwriting intersect, and how fragments of a single family's story are reshaped into something meant to be heard.
Wayne features Felicity Williams of Bahamas, Annelise Noronha, and Tim Vesely of the Rheostatics providing harmony vocals, while Brian Kobayakawa plays bass guitar. Grammy winner Malcolm Burn adds keyboards, Dave Celia guitar, and Dennis Holt drums. This collaboration gives "Grand Illusions" the feel of a carefully constructed musical narrative, with every player part of the larger storytelling process.
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