We're not the only ones celebrating the birthday of Styx's breakthrough album, The Grand Illusion. Guitarist Tommy Shaw united with the Cleveland Youth Orchestra and director Liza Grossman to perform a special in-quarantine version of the single "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)," Watch it below.
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"I started to pester Tommy about a collaboration as soon as the pandemic hit and we were shut down," siad Grossman, who also works as the tour conductor for Styx's orchestra shows, to Cleveland.com.
"I thought this would be kind of a cool thing for my students to do since we couldn't meet in person," she added. "(Shaw) is always down for something new and something exciting, which I appreciate about him. For a musician who's done what he does for as long as he has, I really appreciate that he's still open to all these new ideas."
Shaw gives Grossman the lion's share of the credit, saying that she handled “a lot of heavy lifting overseeing it. It’s magical for me to watch and hear. The collective level of musicianship in CYO is really something to behold, especially having them performing a song that I wrote. What great way to get a taste of what is possible for aspiring musicians, and such bright, light and an uplifting thing for us all to experience during these heavy times we are all going through.”
"We wanted the video to reflect he movement of the music and also the vibrancy of Tommy and the children," Grossman explained of the video, which was painstakingly assembled by Los Angeles-based producer Michael Bradford, while Adam Smalley at Cleveland's AJ Video created the visual clip. "When you're working with something as sacred as any kind of music, you want to do it as much justice as possible and really make sure that it looks authentic and exact. I think we've really capture that here."
"We are still in awe over what these kids have put together, and it was an honor to be a part of their project," Styx shared on Youtube. "Thanks again for letting us in on the fun. Can't think of any better way to celebrate the anniversary of Grand Illusion. You guys rock!"
BONUS VIDEO: a clip of Shaw and the Cleveland Youth Orchestra performing "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" live together back in 2016.
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