{"id":38922,"date":"2017-10-19T05:59:24","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T09:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=38922"},"modified":"2018-10-01T12:48:17","modified_gmt":"2018-10-01T16:48:17","slug":"heart-sound-meet-garry-wayne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/heart-sound-meet-garry-wayne\/","title":{"rendered":"Heart and sound: Meet Garry Wayne"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every two weeks, I will be profiling an extraordinary human being who lives in our community. If you know someone who is doing something interesting with their life, I want to hear about it. Send me an email at laura.maclean@doppleronline.ca<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Music makes people happy.<\/p>\n

And that is exactly why at 79 years old Garry Wayne continues to make time to visit various nursing homes around the area and bring music to residents who might not be able to get out otherwise. For some folks, he says, the only thing they have is a room and medication to take. One time, he played at SickKids Hospital in Toronto to a little girl who hadn’t spoken a word in over a month. She was very ill and Garry sang a song to her while she lay motionless in her bed. Halfway through the song, she began to mumble. Her parents were in the room. They broke down crying. The little girl was trying to talk. The doctor told Garry the music brought her back. Music can be very powerful.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don’t know if music can actually heal people, but I do know it can bring back memories,\u201d he says. \u201cMaybe it’s a certain song they listened to when they were growing up or they used to hear on the radio. But the fact that it makes people happy is the main thing for me. I enjoy making people happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

This past spring, Garry underwent triple bypass heart surgery, which he is still recovering from. Having a major operation forced him to take a bit of time off from doing what he loves but he can’t wait until he’s able to get back to playing for his biggest fans. To this day he dreams of having his own concert.<\/p>\n

He’s been in the business so long he can instantly read the crowd. If they aren’t tapping their toes, humming along, clapping or moving to the beat, Garry takes it as a sign. He knows they want to hear something different. He has more than 7,000 songs stored in his mind, so changing his tune is never a problem. He’s memorized the lyrics to each and every one. He plays everything from country to middle of the road to the blues. Oh, and he never plays a show with a set list. Just in case he does have to change his repertoire. The show, he says, will always go on. No matter what.<\/p>\n

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Garry Wayne is getting ready to move to his new digs in town. Here he sits in the studio of his current Huntsville home. He has been packing up his amazing collection of records and other historic music memorabilia.<\/p><\/div>\n

Music is all he’s ever known…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Garry’s a star in his own right, having performed on stages all over Canada and the United States for well over five decades. The country crooner will tell you there isn’t a song he hasn’t sung and there isn’t a band he hasn’t seen live in concert. His love for music got him rocking at some of Toronto’s hottest clubs and taverns back in the 1950s.<\/p>\n

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Garry definitely has a soft spot for Elvis Presley. Here is an original metal poster of the King himself. The memorabilia Garry has collected for the last five decades is literally priceless.<\/p><\/div>\n

And here’s another juicy tidbit about Garry: he met a lot of famous people along the way. Ask him about Jerry Lee Lewis and he’ll tell you \u201che’s just an incredible guy\u201d. Ronnie Hawkins \u201cis a great entertainer\u201d and Bo Diddley is \u201can amazing guitar player and songwriter.\u201d Garry has had the honour of sharing the stage with the likes of The Band, Robbie Robinson, Shirley Mathews, Skeeter Davis, Frank Zappa, Little Anthony, Rockin’ Ray Smith \u2013 to name a few. The list is endless and he learned everything he knows about performing from watching some of the greatest bands of all time live.<\/p>\n

I enjoy what I’ve done so far. At 79, I still want to perform… that’s how much I like it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Garry only got stage fright once. He was just a boy, maybe 10 or so. He was taking the stage with an older kid for a performance in elementary school. He looked out at the crowd, tried to open his mouth to sing but he couldn’t. Then he tried again. He still couldn’t. The third time was a charm. He took a deep breath, inhaled some confidence and then rocked the stage with a rendition of Blue Suede Shoes.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\t\t