The story begins in August, 1979, in Banff National Park, where an incoherent Danny Tyrell witnesses the moonlit burial of a woman. The body belongs to Jannie MacDonald, the popular lead singer of Jannie Mack and the Silver Trak, who apparently has died of a drug overdose.
Twenty years later, Tyrell, now living in Iceland with an Icelandic girlfriend and daughter, hears from the old drummer of the Silver Trak, Mike Fedeyko, that a young woman claiming to be Jannie Mack’s daughter is searching for her mother and he wants Danny to fly to Halifax to speak with her. Unhappy with his life in Reykjavik, working for his girlfriend’s father, Danny, still holding a torch for the dead singer, meets with Alice Johnson, Jannie’s daughter, in Halifax.
The story switches back to 1979 where Danny, a gifted keyboard player, is recruited from his own band by Silver Trak manager Jerry Delaney.
Back in the present Danny and Alice fly to Toronto and meet with Delaney who is now an empressario with people like Andrew Lloyd Webber as friends. He and Danny argue about something but Alice can’t figure out what.
In 1979 Danny becomes acquainted with Jannie at a band rehearsal in Calgary but raises the ire of guitar player, Colin Hampton, her former boyfriend. Tyrell and Jannie slip out. Danny takes her on a small plane ride over Banff and the Kananaskis as their relationship heats up.
In 1999, Colin Hampton is a wealthy computer consultant. He is a bit stand-offish with Danny when they meet him at a restaurant in Calgary. He informs Alice that her mother is dead and buried the park. He also insists that she is the daughter of an anonymous American drummer that Jannie ran off with when she and Colin had a spat, a year-and-a-half before Danny came on the scene. Danny notices that Alice is not as shocked as she should be when finding out that her mother is dead.
Switching back to the Seventies, Danny and Jannie’s relationship builds to a night in her hotel room after a concert in Lethbridge. Danny’s hopes of a lasting relationship are dashed when he finds out about her drug usage and her new indifference toward him. Jannie electrifies the audience in a second concert but overdoses with drugs taken before the last set and almost dies.
In 1999 Lethbridge, a jolly, greying Mike Fedeyko, now a postman, greets Alice and Danny but sheds no new light on Jannie’s disappearance. They go back to Calgary and stay at Danny’s mother’s place. Danny looks up the bass player, “Shakey” Arnold, and finds him dying of cancer in hospital. After questioning him, Tyrell drives back to Lethbridge and assaults Fedeyko, who then confesses that on the night of Jannie’s “death” the body they buried was hers not Jannie’s. Fedeyko used the girl’s unfortunate demise to give the singer an opportunity to drop out of the music business and get away from her drug-filled life. He “spiked” the beer with drugs so that no one would have a clear mind during the “funeral.”
Then Danny also finds out from the ex-drummer that Jannie was gay, and that during the days before the incident she was torn between going to Danny and her personal convictions. Danny goes to the RCMP in Banff and they exhume the remains. He then corners Colin Hampton in his office with the evidence, garnered by his mother’s hospital connections, that Alice was born three years after Jannie’s reported liaison with the American drummer. The first child was stillborn. He also confronts Hampton about his abusive ways with the singer. Fedeyko, claims Shakey Arnold, is Alice’s real father. Fedeyko and Hampton surrender to the police for interrogation.
Tyrell then confronts Alice about why she lied about her age and claimed to be two years older. She admits that her parents made her lie because they thought Tyrell’s interference would lead to a police investigation because she was illegally adopted.
In Halifax, Alice’s parents admit to lying to cover up the illegal adoption. They also say that the deal with Jannie was that no one was to know she was Alice’s mother. Fedeyko organized the whole charade to protect her.
Tyrell finds Alice, now a Halifax lawyer, living happily with her friend. They renew their their friendship. Jannie tells Tyrell that Alice is his child, the result of their encounter in Lethbridge. Other than that night, she has lead a gay lifestyle for twenty-two years. Again, Fedeyko lied to protect her.
Danny returns to Iceland, absolved of bad dreams and guilt and he and Svala marry. They invite Jannie and her friend, along with their daughter and Svala’s father, on their honeymoon in Fiji.The story begins in August, 1979, in Banff National Park, where an incoherent Danny Tyrell witnesses the moonlit burial of a woman. The body belongs to Jannie MacDonald, the popular lead singer of Jannie Mack and the Silver Trak, who apparently has died of a drug overdose.
Twenty years later, Tyrell, now living in Iceland with an Icelandic girlfriend and daughter, hears from the old drummer of the Silver Trak, Mike Fedeyko, that a young woman claiming to be Jannie Mack’s daughter is searching for her mother and he wants Danny to fly to Halifax to speak with her. Unhappy with his life in Reykjavik, working for his girlfriend’s father, Danny, still holding a torch for the dead singer, meets with Alice Johnson, Jannie’s daughter, in Halifax.
The story switches back to 1979 where Danny, a gifted keyboard player, is recruited from his own band by Silver Trak manager Jerry Delaney.
Back in the present Danny and Alice fly to Toronto and meet with Delaney who is now an empressario with people like Andrew Lloyd Webber as friends. He and Danny argue about something but Alice can’t figure out what.
In 1979 Danny becomes acquainted with Jannie at a band rehearsal in Calgary but raises the ire of guitar player, Colin Hampton, her former boyfriend. Tyrell and Jannie slip out. Danny takes her on a small plane ride over Banff and the Kananaskis as their relationship heats up.
In 1999, Colin Hampton is a wealthy computer consultant. He is a bit stand-offish with Danny when they meet him at a restaurant in Calgary. He informs Alice that her mother is dead and buried the park. He also insists that she is the daughter of an anonymous American drummer that Jannie ran off with when she and Colin had a spat, a year-and-a-half before Danny came on the scene. Danny notices that Alice is not as shocked as she should be when finding out that her mother is dead.
Switching back to the Seventies, Danny and Jannie’s relationship builds to a night in her hotel room after a concert in Lethbridge. Danny’s hopes of a lasting relationship are dashed when he finds out about her drug usage and her new indifference toward him. Jannie electrifies the audience in a second concert but overdoses with drugs taken before the last set and almost dies.
In 1999 Lethbridge, a jolly, greying Mike Fedeyko, now a postman, greets Alice and Danny but sheds no new light on Jannie’s disappearance. They go back to Calgary and stay at Danny’s mother’s place. Danny looks up the bass player, “Shakey” Arnold, and finds him dying of cancer in hospital. After questioning him, Tyrell drives back to Lethbridge and assaults Fedeyko, who then confesses that on the night of Jannie’s “death” the body they buried was hers not Jannie’s. Fedeyko used the girl’s unfortunate demise to give the singer an opportunity to drop out of the music business and get away from her drug-filled life. He “spiked” the beer with drugs so that no one would have a clear mind during the “funeral.”
Then Danny also finds out from the ex-drummer that Jannie was gay, and that during the days before the incident she was torn between going to Danny and her personal convictions. Danny goes to the RCMP in Banff and they exhume the remains. He then corners Colin Hampton in his office with the evidence, garnered by his mother’s hospital connections, that Alice was born three years after Jannie’s reported liaison with the American drummer. The first child was stillborn. He also confronts Hampton about his abusive ways with the singer. Fedeyko, claims Shakey Arnold, is Alice’s real father. Fedeyko and Hampton surrender to the police for interrogation.
Tyrell then confronts Alice about why she lied about her age and claimed to be two years older. She admits that her parents made her lie because they thought Tyrell’s interference would lead to a police investigation because she was illegally adopted.
In Halifax, Alice’s parents admit to lying to cover up the illegal adoption. They also say that the deal with Jannie was that no one was to know she was Alice’s mother. Fedeyko organized the whole charade to protect her.
Tyrell finds Alice, now a Halifax lawyer, living happily with her friend. They renew their their friendship. Jannie tells Tyrell that Alice is his child, the result of their encounter in Lethbridge. Other than that night, she has lead a gay lifestyle for twenty-two years. Again, Fedeyko lied to protect her.
Danny returns to Iceland, absolved of bad dreams and guilt and he and Svala marry. They invite Jannie and her friend, along with their daughter and Svala’s father, on their honeymoon in Fiji.