The Rankins Online Website - Articles 2001 - July-December - The Official unOfficial Website of the Rankins

For over ten years Jimmy Rankin wrote, played and sang with his siblings in a well known band, The Rankins. His songwriting has earned awards and recognition world wide, and now Jimmy Rankin stands on his own with his first solo release, Song Dog.

Scheduled for release on July 17th, the album’s first single has already been heard on the airwaves. “Followed Her Around” is a catchy tune that stays in your head long after it is played, and features backing vocals by Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo. In fact, the album is laden with the harmonies and vocals of other great singers including Rankin’s sister Cookie and fellow Cape Bretoner Gordie Sampson.

There is more grit in this album than anything Rankin has done before. Some of the songs are emotional and raw, in the way that strikes a chord with the listener. Jimmy Rankin has long been a man with a gift for words and has obviously honed that craft over the last couple of years. Having a solo album also gives him the opportunity to show himself as one of foremost talents in our country.

Each of the twelve tracks on Song Dog is different, telling a story, voicing a sentiment, or expressing emotion. “Midnight Angel” is a beautiful ballad while “Drunk & Crucified” shovels gravel under the wheels, making it harder. “Tripper” is based on a true story of a violent death, contains a sorrowful undercurrent that is hard to shake.

Song Dog is lyrically driven and Jimmy Rankin has shown that he stands well on his own. This album could well be one you leave in the disc player for a very long time.

Jimmy Rankin

July 2001 - Irish Music Magazine - Volume 7, #3

It seems you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.

Jimmy Rankin, singer/songwriter of the sadly defunct Cape Breton musical behemoth The Rankins, has resurfaced after two years. Listening to his first solo effort, Song Dog, you’ll find that his time away from the public eye was far from wasted. Released under his own label of the same name, the disc is as solid a bit of music as you’ll ever run through your ears. Not that such a thing should come as a surprise. Rankin’s Halifax, Canada home is littered with the loveliest paperweights you ever did see. Naming names you’ll find a whack of ECMA’s, a few CCMA’s and five Juno Awards including Entertainer Of The Year and Single Of The Year.

Oh, and don’t forget the five SOCAN awards for top radio airplay. Be that as it may, Rankin is not one to rely on his past success to push him along in his career. Always looking for a new musical angle to tinker with, and or an experience to lay out in verse Rankin’s eyes are set foreword with his eyes on the prize of acceptance as a solo artist. He’s eager to talk about Song Dog, and being as the beginning of a thing is always a good place to start, he does just that. "The album title is based on a book by Colm McCann. I think that’s his name. I gave the book to someone and haven’t seen it in stores since. In the book he talks about this American legend of the Song Dogs; how these dogs when the world was first being born would be howling at the universe. I thought it was a good analogy to use for songwriters. We’re howling our stories–our little songs–at the universe."

When Rankin howls, critics and fans alike listen. However, it’s a common problem in that they seldom agree on what it is that they are listening to. Walk into a few music stores, and you’ll see what I mean. The Rankins and indeed Jimmy’s new recording, are slotted into any number of genres and departments. It proves unfailingly that good song writing has no barriers. While being listened to and slotted across the board might seem like a good thing at first glance, Rankin admits it is a touch of torment so far as gaining commercial exposure is concerned.

"I think that people, stores, labels and radio stations always had a hard time categorizing us, and I am kinda getting that still with my record. Some people say it is pop, some say folk or country. As with the Rankins, I have always just done what I do. I don’t think about musical boundaries. It comes across as something kinda unique. I think it’s the same situation with books. I was in a bookstore the other day, and they had some book like The Perfect Storm in a category and I was like ‘what the hell is that doing there?’ It was in a section that was completely unrelated to what the book was about. I think the same thing applies to music: if something isn’t straight country or straight pop or rock, they don’t know where to put it. It helps to be a bit unique, but when it comes to commercial radio, if you’re not something that is easily formatted, it’s not that easy. I have that problem. A lot of what I do doesn’t fit into a particular format. Mainstream radio seems to be very formulaic in their approach to programming. "

Song Dog is a bit of a retrospective for Rankin, who says that he penned many of the songs over the past decade. The release also marks the first time that he has worked with a partner, something Rankin’s more than happy about.

"I don’t do a hell of a lot of co-writing, although I’d like to. Song writing for me is more or less a solitary thing. It just so happened that a song I wrote with Gordie Sampson I liked. Geordie was writing songs for his album Stones at the time. He came over to visit me for a couple of days, and we just sat in a room and wrote a bunch of songs. Follow Her Around was the last one. He was basically on his way out the door, and we started jamming on this riff, and pretty soon we had a song. I never even talked about what the song meant with him or anything. I asked him if he wanted it, and he said it didn’t really fit his album, so I hung on to it." A good thing too: the song has been enjoying more than frequent air-play on Canada’s Country Music Television, and Much More Music stations. It’s radio play has been generous as well. Still, despite the single’s early media success, Rankin finds it hard to escape his musical past. Over their career and through a large catalogue of recordings, The Rankins built up a large following of dedicated fans – all of whom are still clamoring to hear Jimmy’s songs: The ones they know and love. Rankin, while appreciative of the following would rather they buy a Rankin’s album and let him move onwards and upwards with his career. The band’s break up, and the tragic death of Jimmy’s older brother John Morris is still a topic that he finds uncomfortable to think or talk about.

"November of ‘99 was the last show we did. I’m still thinking about that. That whole situation makes you re-evaluate everything. I guess I am changing constantly. I’m getting used to being a solo-artist. That’s where I am right now: doing my own thing and being the soul guy on a record as opposed to four other people. It’s being the centerpiece as opposed to one of five people."

As for the fans and their lust for the old days?

"They can listen to Fair Thee Well Love on the album. After I wrote that and it was very successful, I tried to go in another direction to avoid comparison. I think with this record, in a certain way, I didn’t try to totally break the mould, I tried to do something that was singular for me."

Song Dog hit the shelves in August 2001, and by this time should be available anywhere fine music is sold. However, if you have a hankering to nab the recording right from the source, visit Jimmy’s website www.jimmyrankin.com for purchasing, pictures, and tour scheduling updates.

Blown away at StanFest

Wind brings house down, musicians follow

July 1, 2001 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke - Entertainment Writer

Canso - MAYBE IT WAS the wind, or maybe it was shockwaves from God's applause that swept through the town of Canso on Saturday on the first full day of the fifth annual Stan Rogers Folk Festival.

Either way, the pesky gusts couldn't do much to dampen festivalgoers' spirits, even as they scrambled to reassemble dislocated tents in the Acoustic Campground or proceeded in an orderly fashion away from one of the concert stages, whose canopy threatened to collapse from the constant blasts of strong Atlantic breezes.

Few complained. After all, the wind took care of the threatening morning rain clouds that could have turned the festival site into a sodden mudpit, blew most of the bugs away and kept things cool once the sun came out to dry up the results of that early cloudburst.

By the time Saturday's workshops began it was a different kind of wind that was on people's minds; the kind that passes through vocal chords, out of horns and over strummed guitar strings.

It's music that brings the crowd to this remote part of the Nova Scotian mainland, swelling the population of the town of Canso by nearly ten times, in the name of a man whose death nearly two decades ago has done nothing to diminish his legend or the power in the passion of his songs.

The festival proper began Friday night, with a broad range of Canadian and international talent on the main stage in the crisp, cool air. Who better to fire off the first notes than Newfoundland's Ron Hynes, one of the finest songwriters the East Coast has ever seen? As for passion, Inuit singer Lucie Idlout provided a boatload, singing a bold, abrupt brand of alt-folk full of anger, introspection and pride. Hers is a voice that demands to be heard; you certainly can't ignore it.

But the primary focus of the initial evening was one of fun, with San Francisco's Waybacks dishing out an infectious style of acoustic string music that ranged from bluegrass roots to Parisian hot club jazz. Their extended jam on the Floyd Cramer classic Last Date was a special favourite.

For those who couldn't catch them in Canso, The Waybacks will perform in Halifax Monday night at the Old Triangle Irish Alehouse.

P.E.I. swing band The Jive Kings kept the crowd warm with their pulse-pounding renditions of big band faves and smokin' original tunes, while Canadian classic rockers The Stampeders sent the crowd back to their tents and trailers with the immortal chorus to Sweet City Woman rattling around in their brains.

Come the dawn - which is about the time many campers finally settled down for a few hours of sleep before heading back to the concert site - it's soon time for the many daytime workshops.

These informal musical showcases are the heart and soul of StanFest, a smorgasbord of every conceivable style that fits under the folk music umbrella. It could be something as simple as Cape Breton fiddle wizard Buddy MacMaster firing off a volley of jigs and reels accompanied by Mabou pianist Joey Beaton on the Little Dover Stage. Or it could be the art rock/honky tonk hybrid of Kingston's Luther Wright and The Wrongs rebuilding Pink Floyd's The Wall.

Or it could be a jaw-dropping array of songwriting talent gathered at once on the Fox Island Stage, including folk legends Valdy and Bill Staines, Scottish balladeer Archie Fisher and Jimmy Rankin, just about to launch his highly awaited post-Rankin Family solo debut Song Dog.

But it's session host Hynes who stole the show with a fervent wish that the people of P.E.I. would "wipe the red mud off their butts and hold the Gene MacLellan Folk Festival," before launching into his heartrending tribute to the late singer/songwriter, Godspeed.

It was at that point that festival organizers were forced to evacuate the stage due to wind-damaged tent poles, but what a way to bring down the house.

Klondike Days lineup goes from rock to pop

July 7, 2001 - Halifax Herald

By The Canadian Press

The entertainment lineup at this year's Klondike Days Exposition, at Northlands Park Fair Grounds in Edmonton, ranges from Jimmy Rankin (performing July 19) and the Irish Rovers (July 22) to Loverboy (July 23).

Other headline acts include the Stampeders and Five Man Electrical Band (July 20); McMaster & James (July 21); Tom Cochrane (July 24); George Haden and the New Orleans Connection (July 25); Spirit of the West (July 26); Kim Mitchell (July 27); and the Moffatts (July 28).

The shows are included in the price of gate admission - $6 for adults, $2 for children ages seven-12, free for children six and under.

Jimmy Rankin: Music Preview

July 12, 2001 - SEE Magazine

By Warren Footz

As an artist with a history, it’s difficult to forge a new identity. Surely for Jimmy Rankin truer words couldn’t be said. For a decade he performed with his siblings in the Rankin Family, a Canadian act that had imprinted a recognizable sound many will never forget. Notwithstanding that Jimmy was responsible for the songs the Rankins performed, and even though he occasionally took the lead, it’s the voices of his three sisters most people associate with the group.

As a family band that had grown up together as performers, it was perhaps inevitable a day would come when a desire to explore different avenues of expression would arise. In 1999 that time for the Rankins arrived. The sisters had lives of their own they wanted to pursue. As well Jimmy had been looking for an opening to present himself as a solo performer.

"It’s just the window of opportunity would present itself, and then something would come up. You’d be on the road, or making a record someplace, so it just didn’t materialize."

Perhaps the untimely passing of their multi-talented brother, John Morris Rankin, early last year was a sobering signal that change was inevitable – and that personal aspirations shouldn’t be put off any longer. Now Jimmy has found himself on his own, with his own voice and now has a new album of his own, Song Dog.

It took two years, some wheeling and dealing with the record company, but finally with the help of producer Tim Thorney he found a place for the songs he’d been amassing.

"I had a back catalog of about 30, 40 songs, stuff I had complied over the years, and stuff I had written more recently."

Though the Rankins were hugely successful, and the core of his existence for 10 years, one senses some lingering frustration within Jimmy, and a huge helping of satisfaction at finally being able to get his name and his songs with his voice up front and center.

"If anything it was exciting to get back at it and actually be responsible for an entire record myself. It’s my record, I’m responsible for it. I had to do all the singing, I had to be there from start to finish, whereas with a Rankin record, I was guitar player, back-up singer sometimes, and maybe for three songs a front singer. It’s a lot more work but I’m more entertained.

"With a group, no matter who it is, you have to take into consideration everyone else’s opinion. That could be good at times, it has its positive side where you have other people to bounce ideas off of. The downside of not having a band is that you have to rely on yourself more, you have to learn to trust your judgment more."

A natural reaction listening to Song Dog is waiting for the voices of Heather, Cookie and Raylene to come in. Interestingly that baggage disappears as Jimmy’s voice carries his songs, with a feel all his own. The only comparisons that are obvious are with other singer/songwriters, such as perhaps Murray McLauchlan, Chris deBurgh, or Greg Keeor and Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo.

"I think as an artist you’re constantly changing. This record is somewhat removed from what a Rankin record would be. There’s no fiddles on it, no traditional music, it’s all original songs, a bit edgier and grittier in certain areas. I intentionally stepped away from the Celtic thing. I thought it’d be a healthy idea just to remove myself somewhat from something I’d been associated with for so song. Not that I have anything against that kind of music – you know, the next record may be full of fiddles and accordions."

Perhaps the best way to approach this record is as an announcement of sorts for a new beginning. Jimmy can present his new material as his own, on his own terms, and then carry on and do whatever he wants the rest of the way down the road.

"I’ve done a couple shows, and I think a lot of people are interested in seeing me and hearing what I’m up to."

Song Dog Has Bite

Jimmy Rankin strikes out on his own with a gutsy, heartfelt mix of old, new on his solo debut CD

July 14, 2001 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke / Entertainment Reporter

It takes a real pro to appreciate the value of a good trial-by-fire. So it was with Jimmy Rankin, stepping onto the windswept stage of the Stan Rogers Folk Festival last month to publicly launch his solo career.

After a decade with his brother and sisters in The Rankins, the time had come for the Mabou-born songwriter to go it alone, and where better to start than before a music-loving crowd in Canso, just across the strait from the Cape Breton home that has been a prime source of inspiration all these years?

In theory, it sounds ideal. In execution, it was more like a challenge.

"We got on an hour-and-a-half late, people were leaving, they were drunk and cold, we didn't get a soundcheck, and I'd never played on stage with these guys before," says Rankin with a chuckle, recalling the experience over a Perrier in the Economy Shoe Shop atrium.

"I felt like Dylan at Newport, with a new band, things breaking down. But I think it went off well. We just had fun with it."

Unlike Bob Dylan at Newport, the infamous "electric" set in 1965 that had the crowd booing Like a Rolling Stone, Rankin was met with receptive cheers for the debut of songs off his new CD Song Dog, which hits stores on Tuesday, as well as a few well-chosen Rankins favourites.

By the time a show at the Pictou Lobster Festival rolled around, a week of rehearsal with the new band - bassist Ed Woodsworth, Jamie Robinson on guitar, drummer Tom Roach and Brent Barker on keyboards - and an expanded song list reassured Rankin that things were on the right track.

But he admits he's still adjusting to the change in the sound behind him, the absence of his sisters' harmonies and brother John Morris's musical backbone. "There's still a feeling of trepidation," says Rankin, a trifle weary at the end of a whirlwind promotional tour of the Maritimes. "Normally I'd hand off a song to Heather or Cookie or Raylene, or have a fiddle set. And then maybe go back to me.

"Now it's 'Well, I'd better do another song now.' And I have to gab a little bit more now, I'm not as used to talking to people between songs."

Rankin is often a man of few words when it comes to discussing his own music, preferring to leave the analysis to others, but he doesn't hide his pride about his work on Song Dog, produced last winter at Tim Thorney's Great Big Music Studio in Toronto. The record is by turns gusty, rootsy and heartfelt; in many ways a logical progression from the sound of Uprooted, the last Rankins album, but with a vibrant "live band" feel that's mirrored in his recent performances. The presence of former Rankins guitarist Gordie Sampson (now an established performer in his own right) and background vocals by Cookie provide a welcome link to the past, but the songs are a step forward, connected by soul-searching themes and tales of loved ones back home and abroad.

One can sense the tone of Song Dog coming from the feelings of displacement that followed nearly 10 years of constant touring and recording with The Rankins', cruelly punctuated by the death of elder brother John Morris in a highway accident a year-and-a-half ago.

Rankin doesn't sing directly about those experiences on Song Dog - "I think John Morris would have thought it would be kind of corny to do that kind of stuff" - but songs like Midnight Angel and Stoned Blue (actually written 12 years ago) paint pictures of sleepless nights and restless dreams.

"I had to take a break when The Rankins disbanded, that dust had to settle, and I had to let it sink in," he says of the time it took to get writing again. "Then with John Morris, that was another thing that happened, and finally in April or May of that year I decided I had to do something and get up off the couch, so I took a trip to Italy for a change of scenery and to try to write some songs.

"It was just to get a new perspective, spend some time by myself and do some writing . . . I just took a guitar and a notebook and a tape recorder and came up with some ideas. Wasted on this record was written there. There are some others that might show up on another record."

By last August, Rankin and his wife and manager Mia had worked out the transition from being a member of The Rankins to simply being Jimmy Rankin with EMI Music Canada and began making demos. He hooked up with Alanis Morissette producer Tim Thorney in the fall, and was in the studio by January.

Thorney, now recording the Ennis Sisters, proved to be a good choice, capturing the "organic and earthy" sound Rankin was looking for.

"He's a songwriter, he's a gregarious guy, I just like his personality and his sense of humour," he says. "He's the kind of guy that reads CD liner notes and biographies and remembers stuff. Music is his life.

"I'm kind of the same way about remembering certain things about music, so we hit it off musically. And I like his writing and his style."

Rankin has every right to be happy with Thorney's work; songs like the upbeat first single Followed Her Around (co-written with Sampson) and the elegiac Captain Harmony translate beautifully to the stage, while Lighthouse Heart has an understated beauty that doesn't drown its simple offer of care and support in layers of production.

But having a full album of new songs doesn't mean fans won't hear more familiar tunes from Rankin's past when he comes to their town.

"I can do Feel The Same Way Too," he says, offering an example. "I wrote it, and I can sing it in that key. It's kind of neat to have a guitar solo instead of a fiddle solo. I encourage the guys in the band to play it, not what's on the record but just play the basics and have fun with it."

Look for Rankin to hit the road at the end of the summer, starting in Western Canada, with Maritime shows planned for October. He seems anxious to road test the new material and is curious to see how the sizable fanbase built up during his days with his siblings will react to Song Dog.

"I'm one-fifth of what was, but I also have an entire record to express myself. That can have its pros and cons," he says, starting to grin.

"The con is I don't have four other people to blame anything on. I'm solely responsible."

Above Photo: Ingrid Bulmer / Herald Photo - Jimmy Rankin is set to release his solo CD on Tuesday, before heading out on a Western Canadian tour to promote his new recording.

Just Jimmy Rankin this time

July 15, 2001 - Toronto Sun

By Jane Stevenson

This one-time guitarist-songwriter-vocalist for the East Coast-based Rankin Family -- or The Rankins, as they were later known -- releases his solo debut (Song Dog) on Tuesday.

And it's a harder-edged, more roots-rock collection than anything his sweet-sounding family released over their decade-long career.

Check out songs like Drunk & Crucified, Wasted, and Stoned Blue.

Still, there are a few poignant moments amongst the 12 songs. Midnight Angel may or may not be about his late brother and bandmate John Morris -- who died last year in a car accident -- with backup vocals provided by his sister Cookie. She also appears on four other tracks.

Other heart-tuggers are the stripped-down and acoustic This Is The Heart -- actually the album standout -- and Tripper.

East Coast artist Gordie Sampson co-wrote the first single, Followed Her Round, featuring Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor on backing vocals.

Working with producer Tim Thorney (Alanis Morissette), Rankin succeeds in finding his own distinctive voice.

His rough and tumble vocals add to the atmosphere.

Rankin even writes a few fine love songs, such as Lighthouse Heart and You & Me. All in all, an impressive solo debut.

He will tour on his own in September with a Toronto date expected.

Jimmy Carries On

After a lengthy break, Rankin turns to "rootsy rock edge" for much-anticipated solo CD

July 15, 2001 - Halifax Daily News

By Sandy MacDonald / The Daily News

Jimmy Rankin starts the second act of his musical career this week. The celebrated Cape Breton singer and songwriter releases his debut solo project Song Dog, a new collection of Rankin's own tunes - this time without the famously close-knit clan.

"Initially I was very excited about doing it," says Rankin, relaxed and animated in a Halifax restaurant. "Then I got into the studio...and I didn't have John Morris there to say do this or that. It was kinda weird not having four other people to bounce suggestions off."

So Rankin made the record his own, songs full of vivid imagery, troubled characters and heartache. Awash with sweeping Hammond organ, electric guitars, snapping drums and Rankin's own chiming acoustic guitar, the album is solidly rooted in the great singer-songwriter tradition.

"I didn't want to make a country record," he explains, taking another long draw on a Belvedere. "I wanted the electric guitars up front, and to beef up the Hammond B-3 and give the record a bit more rootsy rock edge." That rootsy sound puts some distance between Rankin as the emerging solo artist and Jimmy, the guitar-strumming songwriter of the award winning family group which sold more than two million albums during their decade-long career.

Naturally, there were expectations for Rankin's return to music. After a half-dozen gold and platinum albums with The Rankins, the music community has been eagerly anticipating his return to the market.

"Sure, there was pressure there," says Rankin. "A lot of people were anticipating what I was going to do. Then you start making the record and forget about that stuff- I basically made the record that I wanted to make." "Well, there's no fiddles on this album, there's no Celtic stuff. I could have done that easily...but intentionally I steered myself away from that just to avoid obvious comparisons."

Radio is already receiving the album warmly - the first single Followed Her Around is getting heavy airplay on both country and adult contemporary stations across the country.

After the final Rankin album Uprooted was released in 1998, the band was clearly winding down, as the siblings were moving in different career paths. In September of 1999, the band announced they would no longer be performing together. Then just four months later, John Morris Rankin, the musical soul of the group, died when his truck plunged over an icy sea cliff near his home in Judique.

It's been a tough go since. Jimmy laid low, travelling some, but all the time writing songs. Then last fall, he put the wheels in motion to finally record his long-awaited solo album. He blew the dust off dozens of his songs, searching for the right tunes for an album. He also needed to find the right producer. Rankin found him in Toronto producer and songwriter Tim Thorney, who had been working with Alanis Morrisette.

Their first session began over pitchers of beer and cigarettes. "At Hooter, of all places," laughs Rankin. "That was his idea." Later that night, better acquainted and loosened up, the pair went back to Thorney's studio and laid down tracks for several tunes.

Rankin moved to a Toronto hotel for several weeks through January and February. Starting about 10 each morning, Rankin and the musicians would work till after dark, building the layers of instrumentation on each song. He brought in some friends from home to help, including guitarist Gordie Sampson (who co-wrote the first single), bassist Jamie Getti and sister Cookie for some background vocals.

Like Rankin's most memorable songs, Song Dog is filled with poignant character-driven stories, songs about heartbroken men, some displaced to find work far from home, others struggling to make a living from a dying fishery. It's powerful, uncompromising songwriting.

"I love to write about people...maybe from a story in the newspaper or someone I've met. Often it's about someone with a substance problem...There's something that's driven them there...maybe it's their hard reality or the humanity in the story."

Song Dog has a dark edge, not surprising in light of the difficult year just past. But Rankin beautifully captures life's enduring spirit and hardness in We'll Carry On. Though the song is written about the hard-hand-dealt longline fishermen, the rallying message could be the clan cry of the Rankins.

"We'll carry on, carry on, sing these words through all the damage done..."

Jimmy Rankin solo disc treads new ground

July 15, 2001 - JAM! Showbiz

By Paul Cantin / Senior Reporter, JAM! Showbiz

Song dogs, according to online canine databases, are a breed of pooch known for their operatic howling, travelling in family packs and displaying a "working attitude" and gentle nature.

"Song Dog" is also the title of singer-guitarist Jimmy Rankins' debut solo album. But Rankin, who earned his musical reputation with his siblings in the now-defunct Cape Breton hitmakers The Rankins, laughs that the similarities -- singing, travelling in packs, etc -- are purely accidental.

"I got it from a book by an Irish author," Rankin explains via telephone from his home in Halifax.

"He makes reference to the legend of the song dogs; when the world was being born, these dogs would howl at the universe. I thought it was a good equation to make between the songwriter and artist and the song dog, howling our little songs and stories at the world."

"Song Dog," which arrives in record stores Tuesday, will surprise listeners accustomed to the traditional and middle-of-the-road flavor of The Rankin's music. The new record opts for a tougher rocking sound that could find a home with the burgeoning alt-country singer-songwriter movement.

"I wanted to rock out a little bit, beef up the guitars and the B3 (organ), and that's evident; go for it on the drums," he concedes.

"I didn't use any fiddle in there, and that is an obvious comparison I wanted to get away from."

While listeners may mark "Song Dog" as an abrupt departure from the music Rankin made with his sisters Cookie, Heather, Raylene and multi-instrumentalist brother John Morris, he says much of the material accumulated during his years of writing and touring with the band.

Several of the songs were pitched as potential Rankins material over the years, he explains.

"I used to throw tunes at everybody, and they either got thrown back at me, or we used them. The albums just seemed to kind of take a direction, where, if there was a feeling in pre-production, we would go for it.

"We kind of had our sound. The girls had their thing, and they are great at it. They are like me, they like all kinds of music, but they have a certain style they sing in."

Rankin went back through his box of songs and says he deliberately selected material that would emphasize his skill as a singer-songwriter.

The Song Dog Has His Day

July 17, 2001 - Cape Breton Post

By Laurel Munroe

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that's the case, a Jimmy Rankin song must be worth a million.

With his much-anticipated debut solo album, Song Dog, which hits stores nationwide today, Rankin draws on his Cape Breton roots and his strong visual sense to deliver a collection of evocative images in music and song.

Rankin is in a unique position as an emerging solo artist, in that he needs no introduction to most Canadians.

He spent more than a decade as singer, guitarist and songwriter for the internationally-known band that bore his family name, sharing the spotlight with sisters Raylene, Cookie and Heather, and his late brother, John Morris.

The Rankins, one of the most successful acts ever to emerge from Cape Breton, were largely responsible for the explosion of Celtic music on the world stage in the early 1990s. The band sold over two million albums and collected countless East Coast Music Awards, Canadian country Music Awards and Junos before disbanding in 1999.

Jimmy had a solo album in the back of his mind even when The Rankins were still together.

"The opportunity would present itself and the window would be there and then you'd be back on the road and it would be gone. It doesn't take long for time to pass by," he said recently over lunch in Sydney.

So, after a nearly two-year hiatus from performing, Rankin - armed with a catalog of 30 to 40 tunes - began working with Toronto producer Tim Thorney, who he initially met when The Rankins performed on fellow Cape Bretoner Rita MacNeil's television show, where Thorney was part of the production team.

Song Dog was recorded at Thorney's Great Big Music studio between January and April of this year. Guests include Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor, Joel Feeney, Cassandra Vasik, Cookie Rankin and Gordie Sampson.

The album has pop, roots rock, folk and Celtic elements, but it's Rankin's songwriting that stands out. He wrote all the material himself, with the exception of the first single, Followed Her Around, co-written with Gordie Sampson.

The songs are exceptionally visual, which isn't surprising when one learns that Rankin has a fine arts degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in Halifax. (In fact, all the sketches on the CD liner notes are his.) Rankin describes the album as "organic."

"It's a singer-songwriter record. I was kind of looking for a bit of 'rougher' delivery," he says. "I thought about going a more programmed, drum loop, sequenced kind of route - and there is a little bit of that in there - but it's definitely got an organic feel. "I wanted an in-your-face, honest, truthful statement."

Nowhere is that more evident than on the standout Tripper, based on the true story of a man from Mabou who ended up on the wrong side of the tracks "far in the distant west" and met a violent end.

"It's very literal, the song," says Rankin. "I remember seeing him as a kid. He was a nice guy. At the end of it he was trying to make it home and they found him in a parking lot in Toronto. "A Cape Breton tragedy. For years I wanted to write a tune about him, so he wouldn't be forgotten." The piano segments on Tripper - and elsewhere - evoke the playing of John Morris, who died in a tragic car accident in Whale Cove, Cape Breton in January 2000.

Rankin says he has always written with his brother's piano style in mind and notes he was lucky to find pianist Brent Barkman, who plays almost all the keyboards on Song Dog.

"He's got a really nice, lyrical touch for tunes like Tripper and Captain Harmony.

"This is what I would have liked John Morris to have done because I know he would have played this way intuitively and writing those things I had him in mind musically."

Tripper falls in the midst of four tunes in the middle of the album that Rankin calls his "Maritime moment" - an acoustic section that pays homage to his roots and speaks of troubled times, destitution and our legendary resilience.

"There was a suggestion about spreading those tunes out over the album because they're pretty strong tunes but I thought it was very poignant to put them in the centre because it's kind of the heart of where I'm coming from."

Rankin draws much of his inspiration from his roots."Growing up on the west side of the island, music is part of you. People play music and live music. It's part of the fabric," he says, his Inverness County accent still strong after years spent living in Halifax and travelling the globe.

"You don't take it for granted, but (you say) 'Yeah, I can go out and perform.'"

The Celtic songwriting tradition has "translated to its own thing in Cape Breton," he adds. "People are describing the Cape Breton experience - not in a sensationalist way but as a part of life, copying it and writing it down for storytelling reasons.

"The album's title is taken from a book Rankin read several years ago called Songdogs, by Irish author Colum McCann.

"There's a part about the legend of the songdogs - when the world was being born the coyotes were howling at the universe. It was a good analogy to artists and songwriters, who are basically just storytellers telling their stories to the world. I'm a song dog."

For the next couple of weeks, Rankin will travel across Canada doing press for the album release and, in September, he will embark on a west-to-east cross-country tour which will bring him home to Cape Breton in November.

Rankin's first major performance as a solo artist was a couple of weeks ago, at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival before thousands of fans, and he admits it was a little daunting.

"I'm used to having three other vocalists and two wonderful instrumentalists carry the show so the onus was never totally on me," he says.

"But I just went out there to sing and try to keep people interested. What I'm taking to people, from The Rankins, is me and my songs. It can be unnerving at times, but it's also exciting."

Song Dog is dedicated to the memory of John Morris Rankin.

Jimmy's solo rise from the Rankins

July 18, 2001 - Edmonton Sun

By Mike Ross / Edmonton Sun

Fans of the wholesome Rankin Family might paint young Jimmy as the black sheep after they get a load of his new music video.

Lard-tunderin'-Jesus, boyo - it's set in a stripper's bar, pronounced "bair," by the way. The younger Rankin brother has launched his solo career with a racy video for Follow Her Around. It's a song about, well ... following her around, often at the expense of all sense or reason. Heed his words: "I stood and watched in disbelief from the shadows of my grief/she wore lipstick black as coal and her boots up to her knees ... everybody's got a hunger and a seed they gotta sow."

Hey, we've all been there, man.

"I'm like a ghost walking through this strip bar," Rankin says on the phone from his home in Halifax. "I liked the idea - kind of rough and seedy and artsy."

With a new band he's "greased up" (don't ask), Rankin is promoting his new solo album, Song Dog, a singer-songwriter folk-rock-type album that's entirely free of fiddles. No merry jigs or jolly reels, either.

He performs tomorrow at the Telus Stage as part of Edmonton's Klondike Days.

"I've played the folk festival, but never Klondike Days," he says. "What kind of a thing is Klondike Days?"

It's kind of like the folk fest but with sillier hats and more corn dogs.

"And a lot more booze?"

Sure.

"OK, that should be good."

Funny, if we didn't know any better, or even if we did, we'd swear young Jimmy was trying to give himself a rougher image that he may have been known for while performing Fare Thee Well and other lilting numbers with his sisters Cookie, Raylene and Heather.

Unlike many of the Rankin Family's popular albums, Song Dog is populated by drunks, sinners and all manner of lovesick characters. Even the titles - Drunk and Crucified, Wasted, Stoned Blue - suggest a more "mature" record.

"I am 37 years old," Rankin says. "I'm just doing what I do. I know the Rankins had that kind of image. I don't think we ever consciously tried to do that. It was something we got stuck with. We're just human beings, flawed like everybody else.

"I made a conscious effort to kind of go in the other direction and not have a fiddle, just for obvious comparison reasons. Initially, I was not even going to have any background vocal, but as the album progressed, I softened up to that fact and I got Cookie up. "People have been asking me how it compares to Rankin stuff and I say, 'I'm taking what I used to do with the Rankins and putting it into a singer-songwriter thing.' "

The new songs, he goes on, are "perhaps a little grittier. Perhaps I'm just demonstrating a side to me that I never really had a chance to show with the Rankins."

It's not like Jimmy is starting over. From when they started in 1989, the Rankin Family became the East Coast darlings of the music world - seen in multi-platinum albums, armfuls of awards and sold-out theatres from coast to coast. They did all they could do in Canada, Rankin says, and when the band broke up in 1999, they left fans wanting more.

"I think we left the stage gracefully while things were still fresh."

The death of older brother John Morris last year made Jimmy pause before starting music again.

"After John Morris died, I didn't really even listen to or play music for four months and that spring I decided I had to get back at things," Rankin says. "I knew that I wanted to make a record eventually. I took a trip to Italy just to get a change of scenery and maybe write some tunes. That summer, I came back, worked out a deal with my record company, and by fall I was making demos and looking for a producer. I'm starting a solo career, but I'm not starting over as an artist. I'm glad of that. I wouldn't want to be starting over from scratch."

Jimmy Rankin goes solo with Song Dog

July 18, 2001 - Inverness Oran

By Frank MacDonald

It has been almost two years since the breakup of The Rankins, more than a year since the death of John Morris Rankin, and the words of singer-songwriter Jimmy Rankin - "As we shuffle round this mortal void/What's gonna be is gonna be" - pretty well describe the tone and atmosphere of Song Dog.

Song Dog is the embarkation point of Jimmy Rankin's solo career. Filled with influences from the past and signposts to the future, the recording remains profoundly different from his songs as performed by the family group, The Rankins. Still, a consistency of themes make Song Dog a distinctly Jimmy Rankin creation.

A collection of stories, characters, tough times and tenderness, Song Dog wanders through everything from a strip club to a lighthouse in the 12-song recording.

Followed Her Around (co-written with Gordie Sampson) is the first single to be released from the recording. Its gritty upbeat tempo tells a story Rankin says he has never really taken time to analyse. The song has been getting air play across Canada. Its video version, shot in a Halifax strip club, gives the song an added roughness that Jimmy Rankin describes as "seedy."

From that opening number, Song Dog moves through a series of transitions that reaffirm Rankin's musical range.

This Is The Hour transports listeners to another time, a time when Maritimers rode the Harvest Trains west, looking for work. The idea originated while Jimmy Rankin was taking part in an as yet unfinished film called Cowboy Stories. The western setting set him to wondering about the stories of those who went west. He contacted Jim St. Clair about the people who took the harvest trains out of here, and St. Clair sent him copies of letters that had been written back home by those who went away. From that information Rankin created the persona who tells the story in This Is The Hour.

Tripper, a song first performed publicly at last year's Deepdale Music Fest, adds another portrait to Jimmy Rankin's growing portfolio of biographies of people real and fictional.

Amid the gritty visions of Followed Her Around, Drunk and Crucified or Wasted, one song, Lighthouse Heart, is a beacon of tenderness, a beautiful love song that makes no apology for its warmth or its sentiment.

Song Dog shows early signs of inheriting some of the hurdles that The Rankins' recordings faced. In a sort of backhanded compliment to originality, radio stations aren't always sure what it is or where it belongs.

"Followed Her Around is getting radio play across Canada," Jimmy Rankin says. "Both adult contemporary and country stations are playing it."

In Song Dog, a number of notables join Jimmy Rankin with instrument and backup vocals. Blue Rodeo's Greg Keeler adds his voice to Followed Her Around and sister Cookie Rankin is there a number of times.

Before the recording comes the writing, and in talking about the process for him, the five-times winner of SOCAN awards and songwriter accolades stays prepared for an idea.

"I keep a cassette player and a notebook with me, and keep my eyes and ears open. When I get a chance, I jot things down.

"When it comes to writing the songs, though, it is solitary for the most part. I don't even like anybody in the house."

In writing This Is The Hour, once Jimmy Rankin had read the harvest train letters supplied by St. Clair he decided on a story.

"Some of the passengers on the harvest train made some money, some didn't," Jimmy Rankin explained, and he decided to look at the experience from the point of view of someone who didn't.

"I found an old church out there and sat in it and worked on the tune. It was a lonely topic. It's just me and the guitar on the album."

This summer, at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, Jimmy Rankin made his solo debut, following it up with an appearance in Pictou, and will perform at Klondike Days in Edmonton, but the official tour for Song Dog won't begin until late September. It is a national tour beginning out west and will bring Jimmy Rankin home to Mabou on November 9 for his first Strathspey Place performance.

Until then, he will be travelling across the country promoting the CD in a series of interviews.

The Song Dog Goes Solo

July 18, 2001 - CMT Canada

JIMMY RANKIN of the multi-platinum selling Rankin Family released his debut solo project Tuesday called, “Song Dog”.

For fans used to the traditional, Celtic and softer sounds of THE RANKINS, “Song Dog” will possibly come as a surprise. The album showcases an edgier side of the Cape Breton singer/songwriter with the lead off single, “Followed Her Around”, in good evidence of this. Rankin tells JamShowbiz, “I wanted to rock out a little bit, beef up the guitars and the B3 (organ), and that’s evident; go for it on the drums. I didn’t use any fiddle in there, and that is an obvious comparison I wanted to get away from.”

Even though the material on “Song Dog” is a stylistic walk away from the songs that Rankin sang with his family, most of them were written during those years of touring as a family group. Several of the tracks on “Song Dog” were pitched as possible songs for the whole family to record at one time or another but some of them didn’t fit their sound at the time. Rankin explains, “We kind of had our sound. The girls had their thing, and they’re great at it. They are like me, they like all kinds of music, but they have a certain style they sing in.”

The first video from “Song Dog” for “Followed Her Around”, shot in a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia strip club, can be seen right now on CMT.

Cutting the Family Ties

Jimmy Rankin turns from the Gaelic sounds that made the Rankins famous, and mines the country vein for his first solo CD

July 19, 2001 - The Globe and Mail

By Gregory R. McGuire

ANTIGONISH, N.S. -- For Jimmy Rankin, it's always been about the songs.

Now, two years after the Rankins split up and a year after older brother John Morris was killed in a car accident, Rankin is stepping out on his own with his first solo album, Song Dog.

"I decided to name the album Song Dog because I felt it was a fairly good way of summing up my approach to music," he said in an interview at a sidewalk café in this small town at the edge of Cape Breton.

"I have always had an ear for a good song, and, for me, it has always been the lyrics that determine whether or not a song is going to work or not. Even with the Rankins, I would always put the emphasis on a song's lyrics, and as a band, we would generally leave it to my brother John Morris to handle the musical arrangements."

It was a Jimmy Rankin composition, Fare Thee Well, Love,that first brought the Rankin family wider recognition outside the Maritimes. This song garnered a Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) songwriter award, and was the first in a long string of award-winning tunes coming from Rankin's pen, including Orangedale Whistle, Forty Days and Nights and You Feel the Same Way Too.

As Jimmy readily acknowledges, the songs on his new album are perhaps not what long-time fans of the Rankins might expect, although they fit in well with the more country and folk-tinged sound that his writing has always demonstrated.

Perhaps most striking is the absence of any Celtic touch. "I still love the Gaelic tunes, but with the Rankins, the Gaelic songs were more kind of my sisters' focus." Instead, Rankin mines the folk and country vein somewhat reminiscent of Blue Rodeo, a sound that is reinforced by the presence of Greg Keelor singing background on many of the tracks.

When asked his major influences, Rankin says he finds himself most often listening these days to Texas and Southwestern songwriters like Jimmy Dale Gilmour, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.

"I grew up listening almost exclusively to traditional and Gaelic music, but when I think of my music, I see myself as someone in the Gordon Lightfoot tradition," he says. "I'm not one of those guys that goes around playing Lightfoot songs all day, but I really admire the way that he tells a story with his songs."

This influence is clearly evident in the individual tunes on Song Dog, each of which has the distinct air of a short story set to music. "When I write a song, I first set out to tell a story that is whole and coherent in itself," he explains. "I see the images that the story brings to mind long before I hear the music that will accompany the tune. In my opinion, a song can have the best musical accompaniment around, but it isn't really a song worth keeping unless the lyrics call forth some special images. I think of myself as a lyricist first and foremost, and I think that has been demonstrated by the tunes on Song Dog and by my best tunes with the Rankins."

His enthusiasm for this work is clear.

"I got to the point where I wanted to focus more closely on what was important to me in music. With the songs on this album, I feel I've been able to do this. I'm proud of these tunes."

Disbanding the family band, he says, was a mutual decision by brothers Jimmy and John Morris and sisters Cookie, Raylene and Heather.

"You have to understand that there were probably not many bands in Canada that had worked at such a nonstop schedule as the Rankins," he explains. "Ten years of touring, both in North America and in Europe, and when we weren't on tour we were usually in the studio working on our next release. We all more or less decided that it was time for a break, and we all had our own projects that we had been waiting to pursue. Despite what some rumours might say, it was not at all a difficult breakup, by any means."

After the band broke up in 1999, rumours began to circulate that Jimmy Rankin was working on a solo CD that would highlight his songwriting and solo vocals. But those plans were put on hold when, in the early spring of 2000, John Morris was killed in a single-vehicle car accident near their home in Cape Breton.

Rankin won't discuss his brother's death, but he is eager to talk about the continuing importance of John Morris in his own music.

"Even when I was writing the tunes that ended up on Song Dog, I was still hearing the piano of John Morris playing along in my mind. I heard John Morris's piano on almost every tune I wrote. Brent Barkman, a studio musician from Winnipeg, did an excellent job on this recording getting the sound I was hearing down on tape."

Indeed, listen to such tracks as Tripper or We'll Carry On, and you can hear the unmistakable influence of John Morris continue to run through Rankin's songs.

Stylistically, the new songs tend a little toward rock 'n' roll. There is more of a focus on electric guitar, and Followed Her Around in particular kicks off with a distinctive Hammond B-3 organ sound that propels the tune.

This is not to say that Rankin has lost the introspective side that was so evident in some of the early Rankins hits. Several tunes in the middle of the album, particularly the beautiful and haunting ballad Lighthouse Heart, provide evidence for his argument that it is the lyrics that make a tune special.

Followed Her Around -- an infectious tune about an obsessive relationship and the first single off the album -- has already climbed both the pop and the country charts. It's also the only song that isn't Rankin's alone: He co-wrote it with fellow Nova Scotian Gordie Sampson.

"I really like Gordie's approach to songwriting. Followed Her Around came at the end of a long night of writing together. We really hadn't come up with anything, then, after a couple of whiskeys, Gordie just started jamming and we kicked it out pretty quickly.

"I didn't think much of it at the time, but I think it's a pretty amusing look at falling for a woman, and it just kind of stuck in my head. When it came time to record, I got Gordie into the studio to play several instruments, and the tune just seemed like a natural.

"I just finished taping the video for Followed Her Around in a Dartmouth strip club, which was fun in itself."

Rankin debuted some of Song Dog's tunes at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, held in Canso, N.S., on the July 1 weekend. What was particularly striking about this performance was the excitement that the largely local audience demonstrated in seeing him on stage again.

"I've never been to Stanfest before, although I've heard a lot of good things about it. It was really something for me, wandering around the grounds when I wasn't playing, and people kept coming up to me and telling me how glad they were to see me, how they liked my first single. It was the kind of thing that reminded me of how much I've missed performing the past couple of years."

As the interview progressed, there were steady reminders of the degree to which folks in Maritime Canada continue to see the Rankins as part of their extended family.

A stream of passers-by stopped to tell Rankin how happy they were that he was back on-stage and on the airwaves. It was almost as though one of the family had just returned after a difficult time abroad, and everyone wanted him to know how glad they were to see him again.

It is clear that, despite all the difficulties of the past couple of years, Jimmy is equally glad to be back. After all, where else would a Song Dog want to be?

Song Dog was released nationally yesterday. Rankin is currently putting plans in place for a fall tour of Western Canada with fellow Nova Scotia songwriter Bruce Guthro.

Jimmy Rankin steps out as solo career takes off

New Song Dog CD offers choice tunes for show at K-Days

July 19, 2001 - Edmonton Journal

By Peter North - Special to the Journal/Southam News

Concert Preview

Jimmy Rankin

Where: Telus Stage, Northlands Grounds

When: Tonight, 9 p.m.

- - -

Two years ago, The Rankins were rolling across the country capping off an incredible 10-year run by playing high-profile fairs and festivals.

It was a swan song of sorts for one of the most successful acts ever to emerge from Cape Breton and one that offered a glimpse of where Jimmy Rankin's career was headed.

One hot August day at the Edmonton Folk Festival, Rankin turned up on a workshop bill with an impressive group of tunesmiths, among them Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Kimmie Rhodes. When Rankin's turn at the microphone came he delved into much more personalized and introspective material than he'd ever displayed alongside his siblings. A large crowd listened attentively.

Any doubts that Rankin could hold his own with some of the most acclaimed tunesmiths on the continent were quickly dashed that morning. Now an emerging solo artist, Rankin helps kick off Klondike Days tonight with a performance at the Telus Stage.

Not that commercial success ever eluded The Rankins. It was Jimmy's tune Fare Thee Well Love that set the wheels into overdrive for the group. The band collected countless East Coast Music Awards, Canadian Country Music Awards and Junos before disbanding in 1999. "We did sell a couple of million albums, didn't we," Rankin says.

That term "we" carries a vastly different connotation these days. Rankin's older brother and bandmate John Morris died in a car accident on his way to a hockey tournament early last year.

The death of his brother put any thoughts of a solo project on hold for a time, but Rankin regrouped and got down to it last fall. After a nearly two-year hiatus from performing he is now touring behind his debut disc, Song Dog, dedicated to John Morris, which hit stores this week.

"I took a trip to Italy by myself, wandered around and wrote some tunes. Not long after I returned I hooked up with Tim Thorney, who I had met when he was the music director on the Rita MacNeil television series."

Rankin was looking for a producer whose opinion he could trust; he knew early on he had found one in Thorney.

"I liked the fact that Tim's also a singer-songwriter and right from the beginning I felt he was making good recommendations about things. We had about 40 tunes to choose from and jointly decided on what songs would make the album," says Rankin, who often hears accompanying instruments as he's composing his songs.

"I don't read or write music but I get these blueprints in my head. I'll hear a bass or piano, even an orchestra."

Rankin says he's happy with the nationwide reaction to his first single Followed Her Around, a punchy, mid-tempo number with a strong hook and a great balance between the bottom end and Rankin's forlorn sounding vocals.

Followed Her Around also finds Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor chiming in on the chorus to great effect. The performances on standout tunes like Lighthouse Heart, Tripper and Captain Harmony are uniformly strong.

Most of the core band from the session is on the road with him.

Tonight, longtime fans will be hearing a balanced mix of material from Song Dog and Rankin family hits. Rovin' Gypsy, Movin' On and Feel The Same Way are all on the set list.

Rankin to play outdoor concert on Sydney's waterfront

July 20, 2001 - Halifax Herald

Jimmy Rankin, whose debut solo album hit record stores this week, will headline Sydney's annual Action Week open-air concert on Aug. 11 at the Government Wharf on Sydney's waterfront.

After 10 years of touring, numerous hit singles, multiple Juno Awards and sales of over two-million albums with his siblings, The Rankins, Jimmy Rankin emerges with his album Song Dog and moves into the realm of solo singer-songwriter.

Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday at all Select-A-Seat and Rolling Phones locations in Cape Breton. A limited number of advanced tickets are available for $12.50, after which the price will be $15.

The concert was made possible through the co-operation between the Cape Breton Regional Municipality's Recreation Department, Moosehead Breweries and The Savoy Theatre.

The annual concert has featured well-known groups like The Rankins, Bruce Guthro, Leahy and Rawlins Cross in past years.

Rankin serves up hot tunes to appreciative Klondike Days crowd

Rankin's Top-Rank Show

July 21, 2001 - Edmonton Journal

...Jimmy Rankin's concert at the Telus Stage on Thursday evening at Klondike Days ranks right up there in this calendar year.

After paying $6 to get on the grounds the show was free and based on the strength of his new material found on Song Dog, the former frontman of The Rankin Family will be back playing a major hall sooner than later.

Although he swept into the show with a kicking version of Roving Gypsy Boy, Rankin didn't take long in letting everyone in the sizable and appreciative house know that he has been working overtime in the creative department for the past year.

He then hit the crowd right away with his debut single Followed Her Around and it's easy to hear why the tune is quickly travelling up a couple of different charts.

A great hook, a compelling and cleverly crafted storyline, and an arrangement that allows his band to back it with some sympathetic dynamics covers all the bases.

Expect to hear this one a lot over the next few months.

When that one has had its turn, Rankin and the folks at EMI will be in the enviable position of having to pick one of a handful of hot tunes for a followup. Wasted, which succinctly zeros on a drunk's emotional bender, and the poetic Lighthouse Heart, both deserve such consideration.

One couldn't help but appreciate what a finely tuned backing band Rankin is touring with.

The four players are more than just technically top-flight musicians -- each and every one consistently played as though they were emotionally attached to the tunes that kept the vast majority of the audience on board for the entire show.

Mark Scholtz, co-host of the A Channel's Big Breakfast, was also enjoying the sounds of Rankin.

Listener Feedback on "Followed Her Around"

July 24, 2001 - Country 105 in Calgary, Alberta

From July 16 - 23, 2001, Country 105 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, allowed listeners to submit their comments on Jimmy Rankin's song "Followed Her Around" as feedback for the music department as to whether to continue playing the song. The response was tremendously in favour of keeping the song on the air! Below are some of the comments that were left.

What a great, great song! July 16, 2001

Has a great beat, would have preferred steel guitar or dobro instead of the organ. July 16, 2001

I like the melody as well the words July 17, 2001

Good song & beat July 17, 2001

This is a great song July 17, 2001

It is one of the best songs being played right now. It is great to have Jimmy back on the radio!!! July 17, 2001

I like the catchy tune. Great to here Jimmy singing! July 17, 2001

Its lively, fun, anybody can identify with the subject matter, the guitar is clean and fresh, it perked me up while I was trying to get energized and go back to work July 17, 2001

That Jimmy is singing it! July 17, 2001

This song is excellent, has a great beat and really rocks! July 17, 2001

Jimmy Rankin's songwriting and singing is fantastic! July 17, 2001

It is totally awesome July 17, 2001

Jimmy is a craftsman. He knows how to put a song together and tells a great story! July 17, 2001

Great songwriter, great singer. Great entertainer, I also like the organ background or is it synthesizer July 17, 2001

Catchy tune and great lyrics July 17, 2001

I love Jimmy's soulful voice. He is amazing at pumping out lyrics and tunes July 17, 2001

It has a good beat and a great singer! July 17, 2001

I'm glad Jimmy's back and he sounds better then ever! July 17, 2001

Energy, nice "hook" for singing along July 17, 2001

Has a real western sound - not the Celtic rhythms I've come to love and expect from the former Rankin Family member. July 17, 2001

This song is AWESOME! I have been listening to it OVER AND OVER again. My boyfriend won the CD on our local radio station today. I hope Jimmy will be touring soon! Love the song... pretty cool that Greg Keelor sings back up vocals. Love the video too... shot on location in Halifax at a strip bar! hee hee! - Allison, New Brunswick July 17, 2001

Love any Rankins! July 17, 2001

I like the tempo, it moves along. July 17, 2001

I love his style and voice. July 17, 2001

HATE the organ! But could be Jimmy's breakthrough on US country stations! Any chance of that? July 17, 2001

Very upbeat tune with a voice to die for July 17, 2001

The arrangement is great, but the lyrics are so-so. I'm dedicated Rankin fan so this is a bit of a departure. It's OK but I hope JR goes back to whence he came... July 17, 2001

Boat's lost at sea is excellent, this is good. July 17, 2001

GOOD ROCKING COUNTRY, SOUNDS A BIT LIKE TOM PETTY July 17, 2001

Have always loved the Rankins July 17, 2001

More country sound than I expected from a Rankin family member. Excellent for a country song, but lacking the Celtic flavor I prefer. July 17, 2001

I miss the girls singing with him July 17, 2001

I have always like the music of the Rankins! July 17, 2001

I've listened to this song, and I just think it's great!!! The whole CD is Excellent, Great Stuff Jimmy. July 17, 2001

Something a little different. July 17, 2001

Excellent Song, Nice to Hear Cookie doing backup on this CD as well. July 17, 2001

It has a great beat and Jimmy's voice suits the song, WELL DONE July 17, 2001

Good sound, beat and its fresh.... July 17, 2001

The voice I like but the sound in the beginning was little bit weird, but in the over all total sound it's ended excellent. July 17, 2001

Good beat, good choice of back-up instruments, and story that can be related to. July 18, 2001

Amazing!! Awesome!! July 18, 2001

Ok but no where near what the Rankins did in the past. I am dedicated Rankin fan. I loved them dearly and miss them a lot. I have never been a fan of anyone until them. (and I am 55 years old) July 18, 2001

Jimmy is cool July 18, 2001

This song brings out all of jimmy's talent it is a great song to listen too and the words tell a story. I will be buying it you can be sure of that. I just love jimmy Rankin!!!! July 18, 2001

Very catchy; always liked his voice and wished he sang more with the Rankins; I'll buy the CD based on this song. July 18, 2001

Just good to hear Jimmy again. A true maritime talent! July 18, 2001

I love this song! Great melody, good lyrics, one of those songs you find yourself singing, it's contagious! July 18, 2001

Jimmy Rankin is a hottie!!!! He can make any song sound good!! (from a big Rankin Family fan, God bless John Morris) July 18, 2001

Nice tune, good lyrics, and its Jimmy! July 18, 2001

I love the Rankin's music period! July 18, 2001

The beat is unresistible; the story keeps you listening to see what's going to happen next. His energy is infectious. Sounds a little like Paul McCarthy in the old days. July 18, 2001

Great Rankin sound - Love it July 18, 2001

Jimmy is new to me; I have not heard all his tunes. I like the words a lot. July 18, 2001

Great toe tapping song, nice lyrics and I think it is neat that Greg Keelor is doing back up vocals, he is an excellent harmonizer! July 18, 2001

The true Rankin sound - that Nova Scotian accent and his 'gritty' voice just take me right back to the east coast. Can't wait to hear some more from that CD!! July 18, 2001

Great, catchy rhythm - good to hear Jimmy branch out! July 18, 2001

Although not groundbreaking, it has nice crossover flavour with broad appeal July 18, 2001

The lyrics rock, and it's a nice combo of Greg and Jimmy!!!!!! July 18, 2001

It's got a good groove July 18, 2001

Great beat, fun story! July 18, 2001

I like the lyrics and Jimmy's vocals ... but would have preferred he stuck with the Celtic, or went way country on the melody. Just seems to be pretty bland as is. July 18, 2001

Jimmy's voice is as great as ever. Still not sure if the country-rock genre suits him better than Celtic, however. July 18, 2001

It's a very solid country ballad, very well written and performed. July 18, 2001

He's singing it from the heart July 18, 2001

Nice sound, driving beat, lyrics make sense July 18, 2001

What I liked about this song because it's really lively July 18, 2001

Overall a good tune. It's got a new sound and feel from the group stuff we loved but I like it. Excellent song July 18, 2001

Smart words, great tune July 18, 2001

I love the song! It tells a great story and the mix is great. July 18, 2001

I like the beat of it. Jimmy Rankin's a great musician. I also like Greg Keelor's background vocals. The song just rocks! July 18, 2001

Jimmy Rankin is one of the best singer/songwriters there is. July 18, 2001

Rankin fan! Good tune as well. gle mhath July 18, 2001

Its classic Rankin family style; the one we've grown to love July 18, 2001

All the songs on the CD are good. Typical Jimmy sound, I like it!! July 18, 2001

I like the beat/instruments used. July 18, 2001

Jimmy's voice is amazing - as usual! July 18, 2001

I like the harmonies Jimmy Rankin sings with Greg Keelor. The tune has a real toe-tapping rhythm. Definitely a CD to buy. July 18, 2001

The story, and Jimmy Rankin's voice and phrasing, Celtic Coastal Canada! July 19, 2001

Don't think it quite compares w/"The Eyes of Margaret" & others. But very good. July 19, 2001

I liked the song very much it should do very well. July 19, 2001

It has a good beat and its not that pop crap July 19, 2001

This song is true Jimmy style and I'm sure it's going to bring him more recognition as a songwriter. Look out at the award shows in the fall...I'm sure Jimmy's name will show up many times! July 19, 2001

I've always like Jimmy's voice. He hasn't disappointed me with this one either. I hope the rest of the CD is like this... July 19, 2001

Great sound for him, I love it! July 19, 2001

One of Canada's best songwriters! July 19, 2001

He's a Rankin, they are all good! July 19, 2001

Jimmy Rankin deserves to have huge success. He was the one from The Rankins I thought had the best chance of successfully going solo. If the album is like this, it should be great! :) July 20, 2001

Ah, makes me feel like I'm home in Nova Scotia again and not here in Saskatchewan. I've missed Jimmy's voice. It's good to have him back on the music scene. July 20, 2001

This song is great!!! Why isn't this playing in the states? July 20, 2001

I was surprised how much I like this song. I HOPE the single (better yet, the album) will be available here in the States!! And the sooner, the better. Greetings from NYC. July 20, 2001

It is just SOOO good to a Rankin song again-I've really missed hearing from them since their family tragedy! Go Jimmy!! July 21, 2001

Finally a country singer/songwriter who doesn't go over the edge of Sappiness! Witty and excellent musically. July 22, 2001

It was great! Completely different sound for him, more like a Dylan song... July 22, 2001

Fine good eastcoast folk rock July 22, 2001

I love this song the emotion is so strong in all the songs off this album! And Greg's voice is a great addition! July 22, 2001

Up there with the best of The Rankins! July 22, 2001

I always liked the voices of the Rankins when they performed as a family and I think it is great that Jimmy is getting out on his own. I find this song has a catchy beat and is easy to sing along with. It's nice to hear him doing country. I hope it really makes it for him. July 22, 2001

Jimmy Rankin has an amazing voice and uses it well. July 22, 2001

If there is more songs like this one the album, perfect, cause that is great. July 23, 2001

IT'S THE ONLY SONG ON THE RADIO THAT GETS ME TO CRANK UP THE VOLUME July 23, 2001

Song Dog Review for Celtic Cafe Canada

July 26, 2001 - Celtic Cafe Canada

Review by Kimberley

According to legend...when the world was being born the coyotes were howling at the universe, and they were called "Song Dogs." Jimmy Rankin felt it was a good analogy to artists and songwriters, who are basically just storytellers telling their stories to the world and chose to use this as the title of his CD. Jimmy's a "Song Dog" for sure! Combining 12 songs with very strong, well-written lyrics, this is a CD that is going to put Jimmy Rankin on the Canadian Songwriters Map, more so than he already is!

Many of you will recognize Jimmy Rankin as the lead singer & song-writer for The Rankin Family (later The Rankins) from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. They were one of the groups who paved the way for the popularity of Celtic music from the east coast, especially with the younger generation these days.

After 10 years of success and touring around the world, the band decided to call it quits in late 1999. Jimmy says "we'd all reached a time in our lives where we were working on different projects already and it just seemed like the best time to stop." Raylene had a young family, Heather was focussing on an acting career, Cookie was settling down and John Morris wanted to spend time at home with his family. Sadly, John Morris' plans were made all too short when he was killed in a car accident in January 2000. This is still a topic that is too close to heart for any of the members to discuss publicly. However, as a tribute, Jimmy has dedicated "Song Dog" to the memory of his older brother.

Jimmy has always been the primary songwriter for the Rankins, and it's like the words just pour out of life's happenings and onto paper and the stage. That's the case with "Song Dog." The songs all paint such vivid imagery that a listener is sure to find a song on there that they can relate to...either the tragedy of losing someone...a romance with someone...the hardships of dealing with substance-abuse or many of life's general happenings.

"Followed Her Around", the first track and single from the CD, starts the CD off with a bang and is sure to peak your interest from start to beginning. It talks about an obsessive relationship with someone that is more fantasy than reality! Already the single is climbing up the radio charts in Canada, both country and pop, and the video is receiving plenty of airplay on CMT Canada and MuchMoreMusic.

Fans of the Rankins are sure to recognize "Tripper", a tune that Jimmy has performed on occasion in the past, either at solo engagements or on tour. Based on a true story, this song recalls the loss of a friend at a young age and the time dealing with it. The song has a "rambler" feel to it, which is evident in many of Jimmy's compositions. It reminds me of "The Ballad of Malcolm Murray" from the Rankins limited edition CD "Grey Dusk of Eve."

Tripper falls in the midst of four tunes in the middle of the album that Rankin calls his "Maritime moment" - an acoustic section that pays homage to his roots and speaks of troubled times, destitution and our legendary resilience.

With only a couple of paragraphs to it, "Lighthouse Heart" is a short tune but very poignant...the piano interlude, reminiscent of John Morris' style, connects the song. "Lighthouse Heart" is a beacon of tenderness, a beautiful love song that makes no apology for its warmth or its sentiment.

"This Is The Hour", a story about Maritimes who headed west on the "Harvest Trains" to find work, is just Jimmy and his guitar...you don't really need anything else to hear the message and the words of the song stand out. Everyone should be able to relate to this song...having to leave your hometown to move away to find work.

Don't think Jimmy has abandoned his family though...sister Cookie Rankin appears throughout the CD singing back-up vocals on several tracks. Other singers featured on the CD include Cassandra Vasik, Joel Feeney and Blue Rodeo's "Greg Keelor."

For those fans of the Rankins, who have missed hearing anything new in a few years, this CD is sure to be a must-have in your collection. And for those new to the music, this is a great collection of songs to listen to and really make you think. And I'd recommend going out and purchasing some of the Rankins previous albums and hear some more of Jimmy's fine songwriting skills.

Look for Jimmy this fall touring Canada from coast to coast in support of this CD!

Without a Hitch

Rankins, Mabou gather to celebrate Cookie's wedding to group's producer

July 27, 2001 - Halifax Daily News

By Marla Cranston - The Daily News

The fiddles of Mabou rang out with joy yesterday, as one of Cape Breton's most famous daughters married a Nashville studio legend.

The traditional ceremony in postcard-perfect St. Mary's Church wrapped up with a spirited jig, and Cookie Rankin kicked up her heels a bit as new husband George Massenburg escorted her past about 500 clapping well-wishers.

"It went off without a hitch, pardon the pun," said beaming brother Jimmy, who served as an usher and videographer.

Rankin, 36, had entered the church alone and a smiling Massenburg met her halfway up the aisle before they proceeded to the altar. The bride wore an elegant white satin gown with a scooped neckline, fitted bodice, and full skirt with train. The bespectacled groom wore a smart black tuxedo, and his 13-year-old son, Sam, took his best-man duties seriously.

A Grammy-winning producer and engineer, Massenburg, 54, has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry: Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, James Taylor, Aaron Neville, the Dixie Chicks and many others. In his 20s, he invented the parametric equalizer, a mainstay in the modern recording process.

The couple met when Massenburg produced the Rankins' Uprooted album, and after a long-distance romance of e-mails and telephone calls, he proposed during Christmas of 1998.

She's a friend of Massenburg's mother Catherine Rinehart, who lives in Virginia Beach. "I think where you come from or your background really doesn't make a difference. I'm sure music had a great deal to do with them coming together," said Dorothy Stuck, a friend of Massenburg's mother, who travelled from Arkansas to attend the wedding.

The pair radiated a comfortable happiness yesterday, but during the exchange of vows, the groom seemed nervous and his voice was barely above a whisper. Rev. Angus Morris broke the tension with his humour, scolding the congregation to sit down - "you'll see better."

The bridesmaids - sisters Heather, Nancy and Susan and two nieces - wore sleek satin gowns in a shimmering cafe au lait shade, in a style similar to Rankin's gown.

Raylene Rankin, in an iridescent green suit, filled the cathedral with her powerful singing throughout the ceremony, most notably with her operatic version of Ave Maria. It was her first public performance since she began battling breast cancer earlier this year. She was accompanied by composer Scott Macmillan on guitar and church organist Marianne Jewel on piano.

Bridesmaid Molly Rankin, 13-year-old daughter of Cookie Rankin's deceased brother John Morris, played a fiddle tune, clearly showing she's inherited her father's gift.

Joy after sorrow

The last major Rankin gathering at the church was a sombre occasion, for John Morris Rankin's funeral 18 months ago. Just months after the family band announced its retirement, the 40-year-old multi-instrumentalist died in a car accident. The siblings lost their mother Kaye to cancer in 1997.

Morris, one of three officiating priests at the ceremony, said the community is thrilled to share the Rankins' happy day after such hardships.

"It's a joyful occasion," Morris told The Daily News. "I buried their mother, I buried their brother. I'm so happy today to be part of this."

The newlyweds own property in the area, and Morris said local residents hope to see the them back often.

After the wedding, they dashed off in a pale taupe rented Lincoln, clinking crystal champagne flutes.

There was an hors d'oevre reception at the Rankin family home, followed by a formal dinner at the Mabou Hall, and dancing and fiddling well into the night.

Above Photo: Fare them well - Cookie Rankin and her new husband, George Massenburg, emerge from St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mabou, Inverness Co., all smiles yesterday after their wedding. Photo by Paul Darrow.

This is a great day for the Rankin Family

Cookie marries: Cape Breton musicians triumph over tragedy

July 28, 2001 - National Post

By Graeme Hamilton - National Post

MABOU, N.S. - Cookie Rankin walked down the aisle yesterday on the arm of her new husband, Nashville producer George Massenburg, and as a fiddler played a rousing jig, the bride paid no heed to her flowing white gown and danced a few steps.

After a long stretch of sorrow and suffering, Cape Breton's musical Rankin family finally had reason to kick up its heels.

The couple exchanged vows in the same country church where, 18 months ago, the family held a funeral for John Morris Rankin, Cookie's older brother who was killed when his vehicle slid off an icy coastal highway. Hymns were led by sister Raylene, who is battling breast cancer.

"This is a great day for the Rankin family," the Reverend Angus Morris, the parish priest, said after the ceremony. "They've had so much tragedy. Today they can have a joyful celebration."

The solemn vows and religious rites were leavened by Celtic music that permeated the service. The most poignant moment came when the congregation of about 300 received communion. Bridesmaid Molly Rankin, the teenage daughter of John Morris, took up her fiddle and played a tune called Father John MacMillan of Barra March, one of her late father's favourite songs.

"She's got the old cuts," Fr. Morris, also a fiddler, said later, "but then, she learned from the best."

Mr. Massenburg, a Grammy Award-winning producer who has worked with Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel and Randy Newman, produced the Rankins' final album, 1998's Uprooted. The band decided to call it quits a year later, after 10 years of performing together and five platinum records in Canada.

There were reports of the couple's engagement more than two years ago, but marriage plans were delayed after John Morris's death. He was killed on Jan. 16, 2000, as he drove his son and two other boys to a hockey tournament. His sport-utility vehicle swerved to avoid a pile of road salt left in the middle of the highway and plunged down an embankment. The boys managed to escape.

"She's been putting it off, I think, for a while, letting things settle," said Howie MacDonald, a fiddler who played with the group. He said he hopes the wedding will mark the start of happier times for the family.

"It could be a springboard to the future. Everybody has had their time to reflect on everything, and I think it's time probably to look ahead to see what else is out there, what else you can do. No matter who we lose, the next step, once we're through with the grief, is to move on. I think that is in the back of everyone's minds," he said.

Mr. MacDonald met Mr. Massenburg during the Uprooted recording sessions and described him as "a good guy and a technical genius."

At 54, Mr. Massenburg is nearly 20 years older than 35-year-old Cookie.

In a town where a mural welcomes people to "Mabou, home of the Rankin Family," and where the small museum at the crossroads has a display of the Rankins' gold and platinum records, and Juno awards, yesterday's wedding was the social event of the year.

"It's so nice. She could have got married anywhere, but she decided to come here to give her town a party," said Darlene MacNeil, a gas station attendant.

Kathryn Beaton, a recent high school graduate who works in the museum, said the Rankins are regular folk who do not expect a red carpet when they come home. "They may be big recording stars, but they're just from here," she said.

Cookie Rankin and Mr. Massenburg are expected to live in Tennessee, but they recently bought a property outside Mabou where they plan to spend summers.

"When I buried John Morris, I said he went out into the world and came back the same person," Fr. Morris said.

"The same thing can be said about Cookie. She left here Cookie and she came back Cookie."

Scott MacMillan, who accompanied Raylene on guitar during the ceremony, first met the groom during the making of Uprooted.

"Cookie scored a goal," he said. "He's a great guy. I got a good feeling from the word 'go.' I'm happy for Cookie and happy for him."

The couple threw a party last night at Mabou's parish hall. Invitations were delivered door to door in the town, and expectations were the party would last well into the night, with a number of Cape Breton's top musicians set to play and Raylene expected to sing a few numbers.

"I expect the whole county will be there," one resident said.

The Rankin Family helped lift the traditional Celtic music of Cape Breton on to the world stage. Coming from a family of 12 siblings, Cookie, John Morris, Raylene, Heather and Jimmy Rankin were credited with breathing new life into the almost forgotten airs, reels and strathspeys that had originated in Scotland.

They began recording independently, selling records from the trunk of their car. Their mother, Kaye, distributed the family's records through the Mabou post office. Eventually, they were signed by EMI Canada, and their most popular album, Fare Thee Well, Love, sold more than 500,000 copies.

Kaye Rankin died in 1997 after a long fight with cancer. Her husband, Buddy, had died earlier.

Fr. Morris said Raylene, who has had to undergo chemotherapy, is a fighter. Her soprano voice carried forcefully through the church yesterday, but he said the cancer has taken a toll.

Above Photos: (top) Cookie Rankin married Nashville producer George Massenburg yesterday in the same Mabou, N.S., church in which she buried her brother 18 months ago. (bottom) Rankin Family singer Jimmy Rankin videotapes his sister Cookie and her new husband as they leave the church yesterday. Photos by Paul Darrow.

Song Dog CD Review for Country Music News

August 2001 - Country Music News

By Larry Delaney

Emerging from the shadows of the enormous success of The Rankin Family could be a heavy challenge, but family member and front man for the act, Jimmy Rankin, proves that it can be safely and successfully done, as proven by this first solo outing. Song Dog features 11 original songs by Jimmy Rankin, several of which are destined to be “hits”, thanks to Jimmy Rankin’s powerful writing and his passionate, soulful delivery of the material. The lad’s got more musical muscle than most anyone else on disc today!

The album’s lead single, Followed Her Around (which features a subtle guest vocal appearance by Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keeler) has already created a sizeable chart presence for Rankin, but it’s really just a tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Jimmy Rankin creates musical magic here on the patriotic flavoured story song This Is The Hour , he stirs some ballsy blues in Wasted and Stoned Blue, re-visits some Rankin Family territory in We’ll Carry On; goes a bit uptown on You And Me; puts some Paul Simon touches into Midnight Angel and Lighthouse Heart; and then gets downright funky on Drunk & Crucified.

It all makes for a marvelous collage of song and voice, and it all gets supported by some ultra-creative production touches orchestrated by Tim Thorney (of Cassandra Vasik and Don Neilson fame). The supporting cast here also includes background vocals by Vasik and Neilson, as well as Joel Feeney and Cookie Rankin (of The Rankins.)

Not sure where the Song Dog title of the album and record label was conceived by Jimmy Rankin- the first use of the term was found on a 1978 album by Michael Martin Murphey which included the tune, Song Dog; and ironically, there’s a new album out this year by folk artist Eric Moore using the Song Dog title

Olympic fiddlers reunion is a time for tunes and tales

August 15, 2001 - Inverness Oran

By Frank MacDonald

In 1976, nine fiddlers and a piano player travelled to Montreal to take part in the Cultural Olympics. They were part of the 200-person Nova Scotia contingent of performing artists, visual artists, choirs and musicians. Among the province's musicians were fiddlers John Morris Rankin, Greg Smith, Stan Chapman, Sandy MacInnis, Theresa MacLellan, Carl MacKenzie, Buddy MacMaster, Fr. Francis Cameron and Donald Angus Beaton. Accompanying the nine fiddlers was pianist Joey Beaton.

On Saturday evening, five members of that contingent held a reunion at the Judique Community Centre, the re-living of history drawing a full house of Cape Breton music fans. The presence of the Cape Breton fiddlers at the Cultural Olympics was one of the building blocks of what is taking place today, Joey Beaton explains. The Olympics put that group of quality fiddlers before an international audience, and Saturday night's reunion was a celebration of that event.

Chief organizer for the Montreal trip was Frank MacInnis of Creignish who told the Judique crowd, "In 1976, we had completed two very successful festivals in Glendale, and I received a call from the musical director of tourism."

MacInnis was told that the contingent could be no larger than 10 people and geographical representative. The group set off for Montreal, and the plane on which they rode probably experienced the first sky-high square set in aviation history as the fiddlers and pipers let loose with their instruments with the pilot's permission.

Throughout the group's time in Montreal transportation was no impediment to dancing. Square sets were held on trains and buses, and, according to MacInnis, a lot of the anecdotes couldn't be told.

He did tell the audience, though, of one night when "Father Francis played all night long, put away his fiddle, said Mass, then went to bed.

Five of the members of the Montreal contingent was available on Saturday evening and demonstrated why, a quarter century ago, they were among those chosen to represent the music of the island at the Olympics.

Carl MacKenzie, Fr. Francis Cameron, Buddy MacMaster and Theresa MacLellan, with pianist Joey Beaton, performed together and individually throughout the evening. Unable to join the group that evening were Stan Chapman and Greg Smith.

Three of the group have since passed away: Donald Angus Beaton, John Morris Rankin and Sandy MacInnis, and their contribution to the music was the subject of tribute from Fr. Francis Cameron.

Weddings, Parties, anything

August 26, 2001 - Halifax Herald

By Greg Guy

...After the wedding, we rushed back to Sydney to catch Jimmy Rankin in concert on the waterfront.

About 5,000 people gathered for the Action Week concert that featured Laurel Martell and Andrew Doyle, Cape Breton favourites The Accents, new Celtic-rock band, Gigfoot, Howie MacDonald and a rousing finale with Jimmy Rankin.

Jimmy was joined on stage by Gordie Sampson, Dave McKeough, Brent Barkman, Randy Cooke, Ed Woodsworth, and a special appearance by Howie MacDonald and his sister, Heather Rankin.

The hometown crowd loved it.

Jimmy played all of the tunes from his hot-selling solo CD, Song Dog, released in July.

Following the concert, a sing-a-long took place at Bunkers.

Gordie Sampson and Jimmy sang everything from John Prine to John Allan Cameron. It was a concert in itself.

Above Photo: Jimmy Rankin was joined by his sister, Heather, at the Action Week concert on the Sydney waterfront on Aug. 11. Photo by Greg Guy (Halifax Herald).

A Conversation with Jimmy Rankin

September 2001 - MediaPipe

By Sandie Ellis

Jimmy Rankin... a singer/songwriter who's talents are endless. A former member of the Rankin's -- this is one artist you definitely will want to follow! In this MediaPipe interview, Sandie Ellis sits down one-on-one with Jimmy as he talks about his new album, touring and what he'd like to be doing 5 years from now.

For the longtime Rankin fan, how does "Song Dog" compare to your previous work with your family?

For one thing I've basically taken what I use to do with the Rankins and put it on one record. It's got an eclectic mix of material on it, which the Rankins kind of tried to do on every record. Pop stuff, there's some folk-rock stuff, folky ballads. There's a place on the album with just me singing with guitars. I guess it's kind of diverse compared to the Rankins. The electric guitars are beefed up in certain spots.

Has this album been an easy road or a long and difficult one?

I started making the album doing demos and most recent stuff in August, September. Found the producer sometime in the fall. I got in touch and met up in December and went to Toronto to meet him like for virtually the first time and a couple of weeks later we were recording in the studio January 5th and went straight through to early April where the album was mixed and that. It's like any other album, you know you have an idea where it's going at first and then you start and you have a lot of questions and then it starts gradually taking shape and sort of blossoming into its own. It becomes easier as it goes along, the further you get to the end, the closer you get to the end, the easier it is, it develops, you know what I mean. You become part of it.

What are your favorite tracks on this album and why?

I've been living with it so closely for about a year now that at different times I like different tracks. I'm at the stage now that I'm taking it from the record now to doing it live and finding that all the songs are very playable on stage, so that's nice. Things change with certain tunes. Midnight Angel is one of my favorites at this point. I like doing the single Followed Her Around. Lighthouse is nice - it's a slow ballad.

Since the Rankin's disbanded just over a year ago, did you have a clear idea at the time about what you wanted to do next?

I had an idea I wanted to make a record and get out there touring and this stuff. There's all that stuff that goes along with doing that - there's the record company, actually finding a studio before making a record. I needed to take some time off, like six months or so before I actually started seriously writing again and signing some demos.

What does it mean to you to be a musician from the East Coast?

Well, one thing about music is that it has no borders. Having said that I'm very proud of where I come from. I'm proud to be from the East Coast. The East Coast has something special here that no place else has anywhere. I'm part of that and proud to be part of it.

Who do you credit as your musical influences?

The first music I remember hearing was fiddle music. Then growing up I was exposed to a lot of traditional music, a lot of folk music. I had a lot of older brothers and sisters and they use to bring home records so we had everything. Plus, we were kind of known in Mabou as the musical Rankin family. We had people coming from all over the world who had summer places there and would drop music off, folk music or very current pop music. I'm a fan of music so I'm inspired by everything.

What does it feel like when you hear your new song "Followed Her Around" on the radio?

The first time I heard it on the radio I was going to the Stan Rogers Fest in Antigonish and I went into the supermarket there to get some water and food and it was on the radio. It was pretty cool, I hadn't really had that feeling since the first song of mine done on the Rankin record 10 or 12 years ago.

If you couldn't be a singer/songwriter - what would you be doing?

I would be an artist - a painter. I don't know how good I was but I still sketch. I think first and foremost, I consider myself a visual thinker so I probably would be doing something in visual arts.

What have been some of the proudest moments of your career?

I guess it was about '93 or '94, we had gotten some East Coast Music Awards and that was great -- you know that we were recognized on the East Coast. It was a nice stamp of approval and then having the Junos, winning four Junos in one year that was a big thing. Winning "Single of the Year", "Song of the Year" and "Album" - that was like stamp of approval for being a songwriter.

What's it like going solo touring without your family?

Initially kind of daunting although very exciting at the same time. I've done a couple of shows, rehearsed a band - I'm liking it a lot.

When you perform live will there be any Rankin songs included?

I'm doing a mix of all of my new stuff and a lot of stuff I did with the Rankins. Roving Gypsy, Feel the Same Way Too, Forty Days - tunes like that.

What's in your CD player these days?

The latest thing I'm listening to is John Hyatt's Crossing Muddy Waters.

What do you do in your spare time, if you have any?

I just like to hang out at home, listen to music, read.

What kinds of goals or aspirations have you set for yourself as a solo performer?

Well, initially I want to get my music out in Canada and tour the country and get my music out there to as many people as possible in this country and then whatever happens after that is a bonus.

When you think about the future, say 5 years from now - where do you see yourself professionally and personally?

Laughing... I have no idea! Hopefully I'll still be playing and making music. I don't know - I take it day by day at this point. Life is strange like that and you just never know what is going to happen so hopefully I'll still be making music and singing. That's what I love to do!

Jimmy Rankin launches National Tour in support of Song Dog

September 5, 2001 - JimmyRankin.com

TORONTO, September 4, 2001: Fans of internationally renowned singer-songwriter Jimmy Rankin will get their first chance to experience his new solo material, as well as favourites from The Rankins' career, when he hits the road for a cross-Canada tour in October in support of SONG DOG, his debut solo album.

Rankin, who is known and much beloved for his work as principle songwriter with Canadian musical heroes The Rankins, will be performing on most dates with a full band.

SONG DOG, which was released July 17, 2001, has received stellar reaction from fans and critics alike. Its release immediately cemented Jimmy Rankin's reputation as one of the most talented singer-songwriters that Canada has produced. The first single and video, "Followed Her Around" has received multi-formatted radio play nationally on AC Radio, Country radio and Country video stations (the video currently sits in the Top 10 on CMT's weekly countdown), proving once again that Rankin's talent crosses boundaries, appealing to fans of different musical styles.

For the complete list of tour dates, cities and venues, along with ticket information, go to the Concerts page.

Rankin announces tour dates

September 6, 2001 - Halifax Herald

In the wake of his acclaimed solo debut CD Song Dog, singer/songwriter Jimmy Rankin is taking it to the stage with a series of Martime concert dates in October and November.

The Nova Scotia portion of the tour begins in Halifax on Sunday, Oct. 28 at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. Then Rankin is in Glace Bay on Thursday, Nov. 8 at the historic Savoy Theatre, followed by a home town show on Friday, Nov. 9 at Mabou's Strathspey Place (which is already Sold Out).

The tour continues on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Port Hawkesbury's SAERC Auditorium; Monday, Nov. 12 at the Atlantic Festival Theatre in Wolfville and Pictou's deCoste Centre on Tuesday, Nov. 13.

Contact individual venues for ticket information, or check out the Concerts Page on The Rankins Online Web site at http://www.islandviewcreations.com/rankins/concerts.htm

Rankin is Rockin' Across Canada

September 8, 2001 - CMT Canada

Jimmy Rankin is gearing up to head out on his first solo cross Canada tour to support his brand new disc, “Song Dog”. Jimmy will be kicking off the tour in Guelph and Toronto with the Cowboy Junkies on October 4, 5, and 6th. More dates in Ontario are followed by a swing starting in Nanaimo, B.C. on October 15th and winding up in his home province of Nova Scotia in Pictou on November 13th. Jimmy’s website is reporting that he will be backed up by a band at most of his shows and he’ll be playing material from his new album as well as some Rankin Family favorites.

Two Strathspey shows for Song Dog Jimmy Rankin

September 12, 2001 - Inverness Oran

By Frank MacDonald

It was no surprise that when Strathspey Place manager Mary Janet MacDonald arrived at the performance centre in Mabou on the morning of September 4, a lineup was waiting for her to open the ticket office. They wanted seats to the most anticipated performance in the young history of Strathspey Place, and before 10am Jimmy Rankin's November 9th homecoming was sold out.

Because of the demand for tickets an agreement was made between Strathspey Place and Rankin's management to hold a second performance, this one on Wednesday, November 7th. Tickets for that show are moving quickly.

Rankin, launching a solo career after a decade as part of The Rankins, will set out in early October on a national tour to promote his already acclaimed recording, Song Dog.

Released earlier this summer, several cuts from the album have been receiving air play across Canada and a video of the first single, Followed Her Around, is finding lots of airtime on Country Music Television where it is among the top ten.

The song's crossover appeal is apparent to Much More Music in the number of viewers who are also requesting the visual version of the popular song.

Jimmy Rankin released Song Dog on July 17, and the recording has been receiving excellent reviews from fans and critics alike, cementing Rankin's reputation as one of Canada's most talented singer-songwriters.

Bluebird North donates funds

September 14, 2001 - Toronto Sun

By Kieran Grant

Meanwhile, the semi-regular Bluebird North songwriters' workshop will donate all proceeds from their night at the Rivoli Tuesday to the Canadian Red Cross, in support of U.S. relief efforts.

Organizers are also encouraging folks who can't make it to send money to the Red Cross's U.S.A. Appeal Fund (c/o Canadian Red Cross, 5700 Cancross Ct., Mississauga, ON L5R 3E9) or make a donation by phone at 1-800-418-1111.

Tuesday's show will feature Jimmy Rankin, Snow, Sook-Yin Lee, Cate Friesen, Danny Greaves, and Brent Titcomb. Admission is $12 and the door opens at 7:30 p.m.