Last Articles - 2002 (January-June) update on January 13, 2008

01/15/02 - Stompin' Tom winners announced

01/15/02 - Stompin' Tom tribute for Dubinsky, Boutiliers

01/16/02 - Top radio acts honoured

01/16/02 - Jimmy Rankin, Ennis Sisters up for 2002 radio awards

01/17/02 - ECMA's cram talent into Feb. 3 show

01/17/02 - Rankin hangs out with Eric Lindros

01/17/02 - ECMA Awards broadcast to reveal region's diversity

01/25/02 - Listening to us was Gzowski's great talent

01/27/02 - The art and craft of songwriting

01/30/02 - East Coast music nominations boost for Jimmy

01/30/02 - Saint John reverberates with ECMA's this weekend

01/30/02 - County dominates ECMA's Male Artist nominees

01/31/02 - Rankin warms up in Halifax before ECMA journey

01/31/02 - Feels like the first time

02/01/02 - ECMA gala up against Super Bowl

02/04/02 - 3's no crowd

02/04/02 - Guthro, Rankin mine gold at East Coast awards

02/04/02 - Big night for C.B.

02/04/02 - ECMA hat-tricks scored

02/04/02 - Talented Cape Breton artists take home big haul at ECMA

02/04/02 - Modest haul for locals

02/04/02 - Guthro and Rankin gather East Coast Music Awards

02/07/02 - Rankin digs up folk roots

02/07/02 - On his own

02/12/02 - N.S. artists among Juno nominees

02/12/02 - We're over the moon

02/15/02 - One frank Rankin

02/15/02 - The Chronicles of Jimmy Rankin

02/16/02 - Rankin steps into solo spotlight

02/27/02 - O Atlantic Canada: Top performers raise Fundy's musical tide

03/07/02 - Kenny Rogers show adds Rankin

03/17/02 - Rankin among artists helping food bank

03/20/02 - Macmichael benefit set for March 28

03/20/02 - School gets band aid

03/23/02 - Music students in awe of C.B. musician

03/29/02 - Jordan exits Mainstreet

04/04/02 - MacMichael's benefit recorded for future CD release

04/11/02 - Blossom Festival announces lineup

04/11/02 - Halifax gets lucky with Juno-bound artists

04/12/02 - Rogers takes fans through the years

04/12/02 - A look at Nova Scotia's Juno Nominees

04/15/02 - Circle of friends lights up Junofest

04/20/02 - Fine-tuning Apple Blossom Concert

04/21/02 - Putting funny business on TV

04/24/02 - Acadia students pledge cash to help festival

04/25/02 - Parker to lead cast in Marion Bridge

05/21/02 - Apple Blossom Festival to be launched May 30

06/02/02 - Festival season blossoms in Valley

06/03/02 - Rain fails to stop blossom festival concert diehards

06/08/02 - McLauchlan, Rankin, Ennis Sisters among Canada Day celebration cast

06/16/02 - Canada Day festival set for waterfront

06/18/02 - Staged with style

06/18/02 - Rankin misses connecting with audiences

06/26/02 - Great Big Sea, Jimmy Rankin to headline Rock the Dock concert

06/27/02 - Raylene Rankin returns home for Mabou Ceilidh

06/28/02 - Jimmy Rankin to Highlight Canada Day Show

Stompin' Tom winners announced

January 15, 2002 - Halifax Daily News

By the Daily News staff

One of Cape Breton’s most acclaimed songwriters and a seminal bluegrass band from Nova Scotia will be among this year’s recipients of the Stompin’ Tom Awards at the East Coast Music Awards.

Leon Dubinsky was a member of the ’80s Cape Breton rock band Buddy and the Boys. Through his involvement in that influential band, and his work with the musical theatre Rise And Follies of Cape Breton, Dubinsky penned several tunes, including the classic Rise Again, made famous by Raylene Rankin.

Dubinsky has also written music for Rita MacNeil, Matt Minglewood, Natalie MacMaster, John Campbelljohn, The Men of the Deeps and various choral groups.

Back in 1961, brothers Bill, Larry and Ken Boutilier began playing bluegrass music in and around Halifax. After teaming with banjo picker Vic Mullen, the group formed as the Boutilier Brothers, and went on to record the first bluegrass album produced in Atlantic Canada. Over the years, the band performed at many festivals through the region and beyond.

Other recipients of this year’s Stompin’ Tom Award will be Newfoundland accordion pioneer Wilf Doyle, P.E.I.’s Arthur Large and New Brunswick fiddler Matilda Murdock.

The Stompin’ Tom Award is presented annually to deserving musicians who have made a life-long contribution to the musical community in Atlantic Canada.

Stompin' Tom tribute for Dubinsky, Boutiliers

Unsung heroes to be honoured at ECMA's

January 15, 2002 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke / Entertainment Reporter

Eastern Shore bluegrass pioneers the Boutilier Brothers and Cape Breton songwriter Leon Dubinsky are among the recipients of the 2002 Stompin' Tom Awards. The honours, meant to celebrate the unsung heroes of Atlantic Canadian music will be given out at this year's East Coast Music Awards conference in Saint John on Feb. 1.

Other recipients include Newfoundland accordionist Wilf Doyle, the late P.E.I. pianist Arthur Large and New Brunswick fiddler Matilda Murdoch.

Bill, Larry and Ken Boutilier began playing bluegrass music together in the early '60s, along with fiddle legend Vic Mullen, and as The Boutilier Brothers made a name for themselves nationally on the festival circuit. They also recorded the first Atlantic Canadian bluegrass album, the first of many for the trio.

Today their music has been carried forward by another generation, as children of Larry and Ken Boutilier perform in the ECMA-winning Birchmountain Bluegrass Band.

Leon Dubinsky will forever be remembered as the author of the Cape Breton anthem Rise Again, which defines the very essence of island character and determination.

However, for 40 years, Dubinsky has been a vital force in music and theatre in Cape Breton, as a member of bands Home Brew and Buddy and the Boys, and as music director of the Rise and Follies of Cape Breton Island in the 80s.

Dubinsky's songs have been recorded by a long list of performers, including Rita MacNeil, Matt Minglewood, Natalie MacMaster, John Campbelljohn, Men of the Deeps and various choral groups. Today he continues to write and record music capturing the simple truths about life on Cape Breton Island.

The Stompin' Tom Awards were named after the iconoclastic P.E.I. performer who accepted the ECMA's Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993, on one condition: that an award be created to honour musicians who have made a long-term contribution to the East Coast music industry and have paved the road for the many successful Atlantic artists of today.

Each year, the Stompin' Tom Award honourees are chosen by a committee of the ECMA Board of Directors with consultation from regional folklorists. The musicians chosen are recognized at the Industry Brunch during ECMA weekend.

Top radio acts honoured

January 16, 2002 - Victoria Times Colonist

By The Canadian Press

Toronto (CP) - Sum 41, Sugar Jones, the Ennis Sisters and Joydrop were among the nominees announced Tuesday for the 2002 Canadian Radio Music Awards.

The CRMA's are handed out annually by English-language private radio broadcasters.

Nominees are selected - as first-time charted artists - based on radio play.  Winners are determined by votes from radio station program and music directors and on-air personalities from across Canada.

This year's awards gala will be held March 2 in Toronto and will be hosted by comedian Rick Mercer.

Other nominees include singer-songwriter Hawksley Workman, former Junkhouse frontman Tom Wilson, hip-hoppers Baby Blue Soundcrew and Rankin Family member Jimmy Rankin.

"The nominees we're announcing today for the 2002 CRMA's represent our country's new talent and the dedication of broadcasters to promote these upcoming music stars," said Gary Slaight, Standard Broadcasting Corp. president and co-founder of the five-year-old awards.

Performances at the show will include the Ennis Sisters, rockers staggered Crossing, rapper Jelleestone and Sugar Jones, the all-girl group created for the TV program Popstars.

Jimmy Rankin, Ennis Sisters up for 2002 radio awards

January 16, 2002 - Halifax Herald

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO (CP) - Sum 41, Sugar Jones, Jimmy Rankin, the Ennis Sisters and Joydrop were among the nominees announced Tuesday for the 2002 Canadian Radio Music awards.

The CRMAs are handed out annually by English-language private radio broadcasters.

Nominees are selected - as first-time charted artists - based on radio play. Winners are determined by votes from radio station program and music directors and on-air personalities from across Canada.

This year's awards gala will be held March 2 in Toronto and will be hosted by comedian Rick Mercer.

"The nominees we're announcing today for the 2002 CRMAs represent our country's new talent and the dedication of broadcasters to promote these upcoming music stars," said Gary Slaight, Standard Broadcasting Corp. president and co-founder of the five-year-old awards.

Performances at the show will include the Ennis Sisters, rockers Staggered Crossing, rapper Jelleestone and Sugar Jones, the all-girl group created for the TV program Popstars.

THE NOMINEES

ROCK

Best new solo artist: Hawksley Workman, Striptease; Tom Wilson, Dig It; Vann, Buzz Killer

Best new group: Default, Wasting My Time; Joydrop, Sometimes Wanna Die; Sum 41, Fat Lip; Staggered Crossing, Further Again; Static In Stereo, Before My Time

ADULT CONTEMPORARY

Best new solo artist: Blaise Pascal, Rush; Chin, Anything; Jimmy Rankin, Followed Her Around; Maren Ord, Sarah; Vann, Cherish Your Youth.

Best new group: Ennis Sisters, It's Not About You; Joydrop, Sometimes Wanna Die; Smoother, East Side; Sugar Jones, Days Like That; Wave, California

CONTEMPORARY HIT RADIO

Best new solo artist: Chin, Anything; Jelleestone, Money; Jordy Birch, Moola Moola; Maren Ord, Sarah; Ricky J, No Means No

Best new group: I.D., Busted; Joydrop, Sometimes Wanna Die; Smoother, East Side; Sugar Jones, Days Like That; Wave, California

COUNTRY

Best new group or solo artist: Aaron Lines, Love Changes Everything; Ennis Sisters, It's Not About You; Jake Matthews, Do You One Better; Jimmy Rankin, Followed Her Around; LJ Daylee, What Do They Know

DANCE/HIP-HOP/RHYTHMIC

Best new group or solo artist: Baby Blue Soundcrew, The Day Before; Jelleestone, Money; Kardinal Offishall, Old Time Killin'; Sugar Jones, Days Like That; Swollen Members, Fuel Injected

ECMA's cram talent into Feb. 3 show

January 17, 2002 - Halifax Daily News

By Marla Cranston

This year’s East Coast Music Awards show aims to overwhelm the rest of Canada with the dazzling range of talent here, with an unprecedented number of musical performances.

Announced yesterday, the gala’s entertainers are many of the region’s best: top award contenders Bruce Guthro and Jimmy Rankin, Natalie MacMaster, francophone singer Danny Boudreau, Newfoundland’s Ennis Sisters, and smooth jazz trio Cindy Church, Joe Sealy and George Koller. A special bluegrass segment features the Birchmountain Bluegrass Band, Blacks Mountain and Bluegrass Diamonds.

“One of our objectives this year was to cram as much music as possible into this two-hour slot, because we know that a lot of people in this country tune in to hear what’s going on in the East Coast,” says CBC-TV’s Geoff D’Eon, coproducing the show with Michael Lewis and Jac Gautreau.

With two Geminis under its belt for Canada’s best music special, this year’s ECMA show will broadcast live on Sunday, Feb. 3 from Saint John’s Harbour Station at 6 p.m. on CBC-TV and CBC Radio Two.

Rising stars invited to perform are Halifax rockers The Joel Plaskett Emergency and The Jimmy Swift Band, sophisticated pop band MIR, P.E.I. stepdancing sensations Celtitude, Newfoundland’s RASA and Colleen Power, and New Brunswick’s Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew.

In a fun twist, eight savvy talkers will share hosting duties this year: comedy actors Rick Mercer, Jonathan Torrens and Bette MacDonald, Newfoundland songbirds Kim Stockwood and Damhnait Doyle, Chris Murphy of Sloan, country singer Julian Austin, and Shelagh Rogers, host of CBC Radio One’s This Morning.

“The idea is to generate a sense that the East Coast is a talented cultural family, and the more talented faces we can invite to this family gathering, the better a reflection it is to the nation,” D’Eon says.

It’ll make for great TV watching, but if you’d rather see it live, you can still get tickets by calling 506-657-1234 or 506-674-4100.

Rankin hangs out with Eric Lindros

January 17, 2002 - Halifax Herald

Cape Breton-born singer-songwriter Jimmy Rankin is somewhat of a hockey fan.

Last Saturday night, he was in Philadelphia with his friend Peter Shoniker of Toronto to take in the NHL game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers.

While in Philly, Rankin had dinner with his friend Eric Lindros the night before the game, and was a guest of the team on the night of the game.

Rankin was nominated on Tuesday for two Canadian Radio Music Awards and is up for six ECMA Awards, to be handed out in Saint John on Feb. 3.

Before the ECMAs, Rankin will be in concert at the Marquee on Jan. 31 and will be performing an acoustic set that day at noon at HMV in Halifax.

ECMA Awards broadcast to reveal region's diversity

Program to air at 6pm Feb. 3

January 17, 2002 - Halifax Herald

By Andrea Nemetz / Entertainment Reporter

Geoff D'Eon and Michael Lewis say trophies are important but what people really want during the East Coast Music Awards show is more music.

"The entertainment value of the show resides in the musical performances," says D'Eon, who with Lewis produces the show for CBC-TV. Jac Gautreau works with the duo producing the show for the East Coast Music Association and the trio won back-to-back Gemini Awards in 2000 and 2001 for the show in the best music variety program category.

"This year's show is full of music of all kinds, we're proud to be able to stuff so much in."

An unprecedented number of musical acts will perform during the two-hour show that will be broadcast live from Harbour Station in Saint John, N.B., at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 3.

The show will air earlier this year because the third part of the Random Passage mini-series is on CBC at 8 p.m. that night.

Established performers include queen of the fiddle Natalie MacMaster, singer/songwriter Bruce Guthro who has seven ECMA nominations, Francophone artist Danny Boudreau, jazz artists Cindy Church, Joe Sealy and George Koller, Jimmy Rankin, who is nominated for six ECMAs and Newfoundland's Ennis Sisters, who have four nominations.

A Bluegrass extravaganza featuring ECMA-nominated Birchmountain Bluegrass Band, Blacks Mountain and Bluegrass Diamonds is scheduled, along with a slate of rising stars.

Newcomers include triple-nominee Halifax rockers The Joel Plaskett Emergency, St. John's singer-songwriter Colleen Power, alternative group The Jimmy Swift Band, New Brunswick's Chris Colepaugh and The Cosmic Crew, new artist nominee RASA from Newfoundland with a blend of soft rock and jazz, P.E.I. Celtic singers and dancers Celtitude and alternative pop band Mir.

"Our mandate, from the first time we found out we were producing the show (three years ago) was to show all the music diversity of the Maritimes," says Lewis, who lived for a number of years in Toronto. "When people think of East Coast music everyone thinks fiddle, fiddle, fiddle. I love fiddle music, some of my favourite musicians are fiddlers, but we also have rock, jazz, bluegrass and country."

The Bluegrass showcase is new this year as are the jazz sounds of Cindy Church.

"We've had classical music for two years on the show and got a standing ovation for an opera singer and people were wowed by a classical cellist," says D'Eon, noting the show also features pop, Celtic fusion and alternative bands. "What it shows is people are receptive and open to all forms of music."

Also new this year is a multi-host format. Hosts include multiple Gemini Award winner Rick Mercer, Rideau Hall star Bette MacDonald, multiple ECMA-winning Damhnait Doyle, broadcaster Shelagh Rogers, host of CBC Radio One's This Morning, bassist Chris Murphy from the nominated band Sloan, 2001 country artist of the year Julian Austin, Newfoundland singer/songwriter Kim Stockwood and last year's host Jonathan Torrens.

"There's a lot of talent in the Atlantic provinces and we've put together a fine mix between TV performers, notable personalities and musicians," says Lewis.

"We're trying to convey a sense of cultural community with more faces," says D'Eon about the multi-host format.

"We want to convey to the rest of the country that this is a region full of funny writers, talented comedians and brilliant musicians in one big bash on national TV."

Listening to us was Gzowski's great talent

Famed broadcaster made many friends in Nova Scotian travels

January 25, 2002 - Halifax Herald

By Chad Lucas

Peter Gzowski's name invokes all sorts of memories among his friends: stories of yodelling, golf and muttering dragons.

But the broadcasting legend will best be remembered as a great listener, a steward of Canadian culture and a true gentleman, admirers and former colleagues from Nova Scotia said Thursday.

"He'd make you feel so special, like he was glad just to know you," said singer Laura Smith.

Mr. Gzowski helped her earn a national name when he praised her version of My Bonny while host of CBC's Morningside.

"My first time in Vancouver, all these people who'd never heard of me before came out to hear me because of Peter," she said.

"He did so much for my career in one day. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to thank him a number of times."

Children's author Sheree Fitch dedicated her most recent book, No Two Snowflakes, to Mr. Gzowski.

"My first connection to Peter, I was just a 24-year-old wannabe poet in my kitchen, hoping that man would interview me someday," Ms. Fitch said.

And he did, many times.

She remembers how sincerely he was interested in her writing, demanding to know what her made-up word "drutters" meant.

"I told him it was when a dragon mutters," she said. "He laughed and laughed."

Mr. Gzowski was great at drawing the most out of people, she said.

"I think the bottom line for me is he listened to us as people."

Like Ms. Fitch, musician Jimmy Rankin says he first became acquainted with Mr. Gzowski as a fan of Morningside.

"My earliest memories of him, I was driving a delivery truck around Halifax, listening," Mr. Rankin said.

He laughed. "I taught myself to yodel listening to his show."

Years later, he would appear on Morningside in Toronto with his family and even earn an honorary degree from Acadia University alongside Mr. Gzowski.

"It was really quite an honour to meet him," Mr. Rankin said. "For me as an artist, it was a Canadian rite of passage."

Stewart Young said Mr. Gzowski also helped boost his career, albeit in a different way.

Mr. Young, the producer of CBC Radio's Information Morning, was working for a literacy organization when he met Mr. Gzowski. The two were working on Mr. Gzowski's first invitational golf tournament for literacy when Mr. Gzowski picked up on Mr. Young's fondness for radio.

"I remember him saying, 'I'll get you in the door (at CBC) and what you do from there is up to you,' " Mr. Young said.

He brought a casual friendliness to the air, Mr. Young said.

"He reminded people that radio is the most intimate of all mediums," he said. "He was the last link between the old, great days of radio and the new world."

His annual golf tournaments for literacy have raised more than $6 million in the past 15 years.

Mr. Gzowski was a regular in Halifax and expressed a fondness for the city, despite having a bag containing his credit cards and journals stolen here in 1985 and losing his wallet the next year.

But he got both back. The bag was found in a Scotia Square washroom after this newspaper ran a story under the headline Star Robbed in City.

"I kept the story because it's the only public claim of the fact I'm a star," Mr. Gzowski said later.

The loss is just starting to sink in, Mr. Rankin said.

"It's a sad day. He was the voice of Canada."

The art and craft of songwriting

January 27, 2002 - Halifax Daily News

By Sandy MacDonald / The Daily News

Atlantic Canada has long enjoyed an international reputation for its stellar songwriting — from Hank Snow through Gene MacLellan, Ron Hynes, Kevin Macmichael, Rita MacNeil, Sarah McLachlan and many others. This week, The Daily News sat with three of the region’s best — Bruce Guthro, Jimmy Rankin and Lennie Gallant — to talk about the craft of songwriting.

Lennie Gallant, Jimmy Rankin and Bruce Guthro are all past winners of the East Coast Music Association’s SOCAN songwriter of the year. Each is again nominated for best songwriter at next weekend’s ECMA in Saint John, along with Sloan and Asif Illyas of Mir. Here are some of their thoughts on songwriting.

The Daily News: What’s your favourite situation for writing songs?

Lennie Gallant: “I like to be off away somewhere, separated from distraction. For me, the optimum is to be able to walk away from music for a while and let the well fill up again. The best situation was when I was crewing my friend Tom Gallant’s schooner. I had to focus on the boat 24 hours a day. After a month of that, I came back and couldn’t believe all the songs I wrote.” (Most of Gallant’s Believing In Better album was written in the two weeks following that Caribbean voyage.)

Bruce Guthro: “For me, it’s not a particular place, but it’s just having the time. After a while, you get saturated with the business side. Songwriting is a craft, but it’s a bit of a gift too.”

Jimmy Rankin: “I have a (songwriting) space in the top floor of my house, but mainly I write in my kitchen and the house has to be empty. I work best when I’m by myself. I’ll start out with just the guitar, and if something’s coming, I’ll go grab a scribbler.”

Gallant: “I know what you mean — I’m the same way. If someone else is in the house, I find it very inhibiting. You can’t be relaxed enough to let the ideas come out.”

The Daily News: Do songs ever arrive full born?

Gallant: “Peter’s Dream was like that. I was up the night before talking with friends at my dad’s cottage about the fishing industry. We drained a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, I think. I got up the next morning with a little hangover, sat down with the guitar and that song wrote itself. I didn’t change a word — that song just spilled out onto the page. Leaving yourself open is the key to being a songwriter. If you pick up a guitar every day and leave yourself open to ideas, something is eventually going to (arrive) if you have any talent. These songs may spill out onto the page, but the gestation period is somewhat longer.”

Rankin: “That’s happened to me from time to time — though not as often as I’d like. Normally, after I write something I hone it and work with the words to make sure they’re in the right place.”

Guthro: “Very seldom do I ever write a song in one draft. I always go back — I’m changing lyrics right up to the hour before I sing it in the studio.”

Gallant: “Most of the time, it’s a slog. You might get the first verse and a line of the chorus. Then the craft of songwriting kicks in as you have to fill in the rest of the three verses and chorus without being redundant.”

The Daily News: What defines the East Coast style of songwriting?

Rankin: “The story-telling aspect is a really big part. In Cape Breton, story-telling is part of everyday life, little anecdotes about people or the dance last weekend. I think we’re just carrying that on.”

Gallant: “I think it grows out of traditional songwriting. Songs have often been a way of communicating in this region — for getting news out, and passing along stories. We’ve all had our hand in traditional music in one form or another. And now we’re working in the folk-pop world, and bring some of that along with us — it becomes part of your musical makeup. You take from your surroundings here, but try to make it more universal.”

Guthro: “I agree completely. Most songs I approach are worldly in subject matter, but the East Coast— where I was born and raised — can’t help but get in there. We’re really a product of our environment.”

Gallant: “It’s no different than Lyle Lovett writing about Texas or Bruce Springsteen writing about New Jersey.”

The Daily News: What advice would you give budding songwriters?

Gallant: “Keep your receipts and get a good accountant ... seriously, just be true to yourself — if you try to chase whatever’s happening out there, you’ll be chasing your own tail. Be true to yourself, and people will believe in you.”

Guthro: “Don’t expect people to come to you. Don’t expect that you can write an song, and people are gonna line up to record that song or take you away and make you a superstar. The writing of a song is just one small step toward the success — you gotta work your ass off.”

Rankin: “If you want to be a writer, you have to work at it. You may write five songs, but that’s just a start, a sketch for developing your craft.”

Gallant: “Pick up the guitar or sit down at the piano and do it often, even when you don’t think you have an idea. If you wait for inspiration to strike you, you may be waiting a long time.”

Above Photos: (Top) Jimmy Rankin, Bruce Guthro, Lennie Gallant - Photo by Paul Darrow (Bottom) Jimmy Rankin  - Photo by Paul Darrow

East Coast music nominations boost for Jimmy

January 30, 2002 - National Post

By Chris Morris / Canadian Press

SAINT JOHN, N.B. - If country-folk artist Jimmy Rankin had any doubts about going it alone after the Rankins disbanded, the East Coast Music Awards must be as comforting as a hot cup of tea on a cold day in Cape Breton.

The 37-year-old singer-songwriter from Mabou, N.S., is nominated for six awards at the annual East Coast music love-in, to be held this weekend in Saint John.

All of Rankin's nominations relate to his debut solo album, Song Dog.

It's a confidence booster for Rankin, who is still recovering from the sudden death of his brother and bandmate, John Morris Rankin, and from the breakup of the Rankins, one of the most popular Maritime groups of recent years.

``I didn't really know what to expect when I made this album,'' Rankin said in a recent interview from his Halifax home.

``It's been getting great reviews and people are liking it. I'm very pleased.''

Song Dog is dedicated to John Morris, Rankin's influential older brother and musical partner who was killed two years ago in a car crash near his Cape Breton home.

The death sent shockwaves through the East Coast music industry. It also devastated the Rankin family and stunned Jimmy into a deep solitude that went beyond the reach of music.

With the group disbanded and John Morris gone, Rankin wasn't sure what to do with himself.

A long trip to Europe, with a guitar, helped him find the answer: a solo career as a singer-songwriter.

``After everything that had happened, I needed a change of scenery,'' he said. ``In Europe, the juices started flowing.''

Rankin had plenty of material in his musical sketchbook; songs he had been working on for years. But he missed his brother's sure touch with the tunes when he started putting the album together.

Rankin has always been the songwriter in the family while John Morris was the musician.

``I think he would have liked it,'' said Rankin, speculating on what his brother's reaction to the new album would have been.

``I definitely would have asked him to play on it if he was living at the time. We had a lot of similar tastes in music. ... He was a lover of songwriters.''

For the man who penned the Rankins' big hit, Fare Thee Well Love, with its lilting Celtic melody, Song Dog is a major musical departure.

The lead single off the album, Followed You Around, is climbing the charts, helped along by a steamy video shot in a strip club.

Gone are the fiddles and tight harmonies of the Rankin family's old recordings. Rankin has closed the door on the Maritime kitchen party and opened a new one to the seamier side of life.

While his solo album is edgier than anything Rankin and his siblings ever produced, he wasn't consciously thinking of a musical change of direction with Song Dog.

``I was just trying to make a good record,'' he said. ``I had an idea I wanted it to be a little raunchier than Rankin stuff, but when I started making the album, the tunes dictated their own direction.''

Still, on soulful love songs like Lighthouse Heart, fans can still hear the Maritime sound.

``In the heart of the record, right in the centre of it, there are three or four tunes that I call the Maritime moment of the album. It's where I'm coming from, the songwriterly part of the album, where it's me and a guitar and some acoustic instruments.''

Rankin's nominations include songwriter of the year, male artist of the year, single of the year, and country artist of the year. He's also been given the nod for album of the year and video of the year.

The East Coast Music Awards will be handed out on Sunday evening. The gala will be aired on CBC television.

Rankin has plans for a tour of Western Canada beginning in February and hopes to make it into the United States later in the year.

The Rankin name is well-known in the United States, as well as across Canada. But Rankin has no plans on following other Atlantic Canadians down the road.

``I could have gone down the road but I chose to stay here. I like it here. It's home and it's where it get most of my inspiration.''

Saint John reverberates with ECMA's this weekend

January 30, 2002 - Halifax Daily News

By Sandy MacDonald / The Daily News

Many people from the the regional music industry are jammed into cars and vans today, heading to Saint John, N.B., for the annual East Coast Music Awards. Musicians, managers, media, industry folks and lots of music fans have booked every bed in the city, anticipating a weekend of live music and partying. More schmoozing, less snoozing.

(I’ve wondered if it’s possible to make it through to Monday morning without actually hitting the sheets once — I’ve come close.)

This year, the organizing committee has introduced some new events to boost the live music quotient. Everywhere through the city will be musicians tuning up and performing — from pin-dropping classical to ear-pounding rock, from beat box rap to jump blues.

The new Roots Room in the Saint John Hilton will stage five artists every afternoon in a relaxed coffeehouse setting. Over three afternoons, the featured artists include Jennifer Roland, Snake Charmer, Ardyth & Jennifer, Kendra MacGillivray, Charlie A’Court, RASA, Roy Johnstone & Steve Sharrett, Isaac & Blewett and Patricia Murray.

Mike Campbell steps up to the plate again this year, putting the music where his mouth is. The popular host of Much Music’s Going Coastal has complained about the ECMA not providing enough exposure for East Coast rock and alternative acts. So Campbell has lined up a bunch of rock bands under the banner Much Music Dog and Pony Show at Tapps Brewpub.

The ECMA has also booked some young bands into a first-time all ages stage at the Saint John high school on Saturday night, featuring the Butterfly Effect, Kaleb Simmonds, Dead Red and Bucket Truck. Since most of the musical activity is centred in licensed clubs, a huge percentage of the music-buying public is left out on the freezing sidewalk.

One of the musical highlights is always the annual Black Vibes showcase, highlighting the best of African-Canadian talent. On Saturday night, the always-packed event is set for Canadian Jungle. Among the talent expected is 13-year-old Tiyaila Cain-Grant (watch for some record label interest in the young North Preston singer this weekend), saxophonist Adrien Gough, Harvey Millar and Freedom Jazz, Afro Musica and Dutch Robinson.

You don’t need to be Natalie MacMaster to get onstage with your fiddle this weekend. Ivan Hicks is inviting fiddlers to an all-weekend jam at the Delta hotel — all fiddle, all the time. Wonder how many times we’ll hear Irish Washerwoman and High Road to Linton before midnight on Sunday?

Craig Mercer from the Jimmy Swift Band is setting up the Jungle Jam at a joint called the Canadian Jungle, and will highlight indie rock bands all weekend. Check out Timber from Newfoundland, Cape Breton’s Rock Ranger, and several Halifax acts, including King Konquerer, Mir, Dr. Yellow Fever and, of course, the Jimmy Swift Band.

Fans of the East Coast blues scene can drop into the Waterfront Lounge to check out some of the best blues bands on the coast. On Friday night, organizer Bruce Morel has set the stage for a huge blues jam, featuring the five nominated bands and some special guests.

There’s also the nightly concert series at the Imperial Theatre, the mainstage showcases at the Trade and Convention Centre, the 72-hour jam and the Sunday afternoon Songwriters Circle, co-hosted by Bruce Guthro and Jimmy Rankin.

Sunday night is the big awards show, from Harbour Station. I like the line-up for the televised awards show, and applaud the producers for the rotating host concept. Where does the rule book says a show must have one beleaguered host gamely holding the show together with lame jokes and strained repartee? The live performances offer a fairly balanced perspective on the music from the region — from Natalie MacMaster, Guthro and Jimmy Rankin to Joel Plaskett Emergency, RASA, and the Jimmy Swift Band.

County dominates ECMA's Male Artist nominees

January 30, 2002 - Inverness Oran

By Frank MacDonald

Cape Breton Island has monopolized the Male Artist of the Year category at the East Coast Music Awards, and Inverness County accounts for four of the five nominations. In the hunt for the hardware are J.P. Cormier (Cap le Moine), Jimmy Rankin (Mabou), Glenn Graham (Judique) and Ian McKinnon (Port Hawkesbury). Bruce Guthro of Sydney Mines is the fifth Cape Bretoner rounding out the category.

JIMMY RANKIN
Jimmy Rankin is back after the break-up of the family act with his debut solo CD, Song Dog, which has garnered him several nominations. He is nominated for Male Artist of the Year, Country Artist/Group of the Year, Album of the Year, Video of the Year, and his single, Followed her Around is nominated as Single of the Year. Rankin and the co-writer of Followed Her Around, Gordie Sampson, are also up for the SOCAN Songwriter of the Year award. Six more chances for Rankin to add to his substantial collection of music industry awards. He has received previous awards from the Junos, East Coast Music Awards, and Canadian Country Music Awards.

GLENN GRAHAM
Judique's Glenn Graham has always been a favorite among Cape Breton fiddlers. His roots go deep in the traditional Gaelic music. With the release of his most recent recording, Stepoutside, Glenn has established the direction he wants his music to take. He has added vocals to his music, proving himself as a songwriter as well as a composer. Teamed with his cousin, Rodney MacDonald, they released Traditionally Rockin' which was a double nominee for Instrumental and Roots Traditional Artist of the Year at the 1998 East Coast Music Awards. He was a Showcase performer at the 2001 Charlottetown East Coast Music Awards and is up for Roots/Traditional Solo of the Year and Male Artist of the Year at ECMA 2002. Graham has performed at numerous venues throughout the Maritimes, central Canada, Northeastern U.S., and the United Kingdom.

IAN MCKINNON
A founding member of the internationally acclaimed Celtic Rock group, Rawlins Cross, Cape Breton native Ian McKinnon has received seven ECMA awards and two Juno nominations. He is recognized worldwide as an innovator on the Highland bagpipe and tin whistle. This year, he has earned an ECMA nomination for his stunning solo piece in the acclaimed MacKinnon's Brook Suite CD, which also features Symphony Nova Scotia. MacKinnon's Brook Suite is nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at this year's ECMA. This stunning new orchestral work, composed by Scott McMillan, depicts the life and journey of Hugh and Mary MacKinnon, who emigrated from Scotland to Cape Breton. Combining the seven-time ECMA winner McKinnon with two-time ECMA winner Symphony Nova Scotia, MacKinnon's Brook Suite is sure to captivate all listeners.

J.P. CORMIER
Cape Breton's J.P. Cormier is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, sideman, recording artist and award winner. Cormier has received numerous nominations at both the Junos and the ECMAs. A multiple ECMA award winner, in 1998 he went home with the ECMA for Roots/Traditional Vocalist of the Year, and in 2000 he won Instrumentalist of the Year. His new CD is titled Now That The Work Is Done and has earned him yet another ECMA nomination for Male Artist of the Year. A giant in stature, he is considered a poet at heart. His high-energy performances have been engaging audiences for years.

BRUCE GUTHRO
Bruce Guthro is a storyteller with an amazing vocal sound. From Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, his music excites, inspires, and stirs in the tradition of great songwriters who can say what all have felt, but few can express. Bruce dominated the 1998 East Coast Music Awards, winning all five of his categories – Male Artist of the Year, Album of the year for Of Your Son, Pop/Rock Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Single of the Year for Falling. That year he also took home three Canadian Radio Music Awards and a Juno Award nomination for Best New Solo Artist. Guthro is hoping to repeat his success of 1998; he is nominated for seven ECMA awards in 2002.

Above Photo Copyright Inverness Oran

Rankin warms up in Halifax before ECMA journey

January 31, 2002 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke / Nightclub Notebook

Just because it's ECMA weekend doesn't mean every musician under the sun is high-tailing it to Saint John. Just every other musician.

Jimmy Rankin is off to the East Coast Music Awards, where he has six nominations, but before he goes toe-to-toe with fellow multiple-nominees Bruce Guthro and Sloan, he plays a couple of warm-up shows for Halifax fans dying to catch the Mabou balladeer in more intimate surroundings.

This afternoon Rankin and his band play songs from his solo CD Song Dog (and perhaps a few Rankin Family favourites) in a free performance at HMV Spring Garden Road at 12:30 p.m., followed by a show tonight at The Marquee Club, with former Guthrie Matt Mays doing a solo turn to warm things up.

Anyone who saw Rankin's sold-out show at the Rebecca Cohn knows the new material and back-up band make for an exciting evening, and the informal Marquee atmosphere will ensure a certain freewheeling spontaneity.

Tickets are available in advance from the Marquee, HMV, Biscuit Clothing, Neptune Theatre box office, and the General Store (across from the Marquee) for $22, or at the door for $24.

Feels like the first time

It's an exciting year for artists up for their first ECMA's

January 31, 2002 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke / Entertainment Reporter

THE EAST COAST Music Awards and Conference weekend, taking place from now until Sunday in Saint John, can be a hectic occasion at the best of times.

With seminars, showcases, late night (or even all-night) jam sessions, plus the requisite amount of schmoozing and deal making, it's the key annual event for the Atlantic Canadian music industry.

Then of course there is the award show itself, from the fuss over what to wear - last year it seemed leather pants and shiny shirts were the unofficial ECMA uniform - to what to say, should you actually be lucky enough to step up to the podium.

For seasoned nominees, your Jimmy Rankins, Bruce Guthros, and your Sloans and your Natalie MacMasters, ECMA weekend is old hat, a familiar territory of friendly faces and recognizable routine.

No, you don't know for sure who's going to win what on Sunday evening, but it is a pretty safe bet that attendees will be singing rude folk songs in a hotel hallway at 7 a.m. the next morning.

For first-time nominees though, the ECMAs can seem a bit daunting as it approaches. There's the desire to see and be seen, to make a lasting impression and to come away with renewed conviction that performing music is still a better career path than slinging hash, planting trees or becoming a provincial cabinet minister.

Newfoundland singer/songwriter Colleen Power has attended past ECMAs, playing No-Cases in Sydney and Charlottetown, but this year she's going full-tilt as a novice nominee, with a hat trick of three nods for female, alternative and new artist of the year.

It's a fitting accomplishment for the green-eyed St. John's siren, whose solo debut CD is titled Lucky You Are.

"I'm not expecting to win anything, I just want to go and play," says Power from Newfoundland, where she's busy making up show posters and rehearsing with an all-star band featuring Rawlins Cross's Dave and Jeff Panting plus producer Don Ellis and Aneirin Thomas.

"I can't even believe I'm on the show, it's freaky! All these years I've been trying to get by, and then all of a sudden I'm on the ECMA show."

Performing No Greater Queen on the ECMA awards broadcast (Sunday at 6 p.m. on CBC Television) in a new dress designed by Barry Buckle is bound to be a weekend highlight for Power, but there's a lot of grunt work that must be endured beforehand.

"I registered for the buyers' room, so I have to figure out what goes on there," says Power. "I have to go around putting up posters and handing out invitations to the showcase, and get the band ready and figure out what to wear . . .

"I have to cover everything myself, y'know? You'll see me like a little whirlwind, running around."

Big band leader and vocalist Derrick LeLacheur plans to cover a lot of ground at the ECMAs as well, handing out copies of his jazz artist-nominated CD of smooth Sinatra standards recorded with the 20-piece Swing Kings.

The Halifax-based singer and trombonist has been performing for two decades, most notably with the Stadacona Band as well as his own outfit, but this will be his first trip to the ECMAs. LeLacheur is anxious to find out how he can expand the market for a large ensemble that plays classic arrangements of Fly Me to the Moon and You Make Me Feel So Young.

"I don't want to sound naive, but I don't really know a lot about the business," says the honey-toned singer, who initially struck up the band as a fundraiser for fighting diabetes. "I've been singing big band music all over the world, and I'd like to extend my career.

"Already I've had ATV come to my home for a news piece, so that's a good thing. Being in the jazz category, you don't always get as much attention as rock or Celtic artists, so to get interviewed about my music is a good feeling."

Unfortunately, taking 20 of the best local musicians to Saint John for a weekend promotional trip is cost prohibitive for LeLacheur, who financed the recording of his CD at Alderney Landing himself. So he has to meet as many people as possible in person and let the disc do the talking.

Thankfully that's not the case for blues guru and Best New Artist contender Carlo Spinazzola, who operates on more of a "have guitar, will travel" modus operandi. His schedule includes playing brick-walled watering hole O'Leary's on Thursday and Saturday, the Up Close and Personal showcase in McAllister Place Mall on Friday and the post-awards party on Sunday.

With his current album Walk garnering reams of attention and a national tour and new CD planned for the spring and summer, Spinazzola plans to wade into the ECMAs with both guns blazing this weekend and try and entertain anyone who will listen.

"I'll work the crap out of it," he laughs from his parents' home in Sydney Mines. "You can make ECMAs work for you, and exposure and press is one of the most powerful things you can feed society.

"For the first time in ages, I'm at home at my folks' place, and I'm watching the TV, and it's incredible. It's a capsule and it's a succubus, it's an incredible medium to reach a lot of people. I can talk about grassroots all I want, but if people can't find out about my music, there's no sense in me trying to extend my business. I want to reach people, and anything in the media is worthwhile, and ECMAs is a great chance to get more press."

For Halifax-based Celtic singer Patricia Murray, this weekend's trip to Saint John is like a homecoming. She grew up there, and is thrilled to celebrate her first nomination - for Roots Traditional, Solo Artist - in the Loyalist city.

At the same time, she realizes the importance of maintaining that delicate balance between business and pleasure over the course of four days.

"When you're doing a showcase, you're trying to be as focused as you can, trying to get your name out there and meet as many people as you can," says Murray, whose schedule includes Up Close and Personal on Friday, the Roots Room with Lennie Gallant on Saturday and the post-show party with fellow nominee, Linda Carvery.

"It can get pretty frenzied, and you're just exhausted by the end of the weekend. But with this coming weekend I'm getting recognized for the work I have done over the past year. And although I'm doing a lot of performances I'm going to try and enjoy the event a little bit more and not worry so much about the business. That will still continue after the weekend."

First-time Female Artist nominee Amelia Curran is taking a low-key approach to the ECMAs, focusing on opening the rock stage tonight and keeping the 72-hour jam going at 3 a.m. on Sunday with her seven-piece SenseAmelia Project.

The Newfoundland-born, Halifax-based performer wants to make a good impression on any music biz figures that cross her band's path, but equally important is playing for a new audience, making new fans and having a good time.

"The event will certainly be crawling with music industry folk, which is why we're going up with our little business cards and a whole lot of questions to ask, but not necessarily to get into business with anybody," she says.

"We're in a pretty good position to remain an independent project, but we need to move a little faster and get a better grasp on all this stuff. So we need to talk to these industry guys and see how we're doing, because right now we have no idea if we're doing the right things or fitting in anywhere."

Traditional Antigonish fiddler Kendra MacGillivray has her niche fairly well established by now, with two acclaimed CDs Clear the Tracks and Over the Waves, but her first ECMA nominations - for Female and Instrumental Artist - still stand as a major career highlight.

MacGillivray's performing a lot this weekend, including the Roots Room on Friday where she'll join the house band for the live CBC Radio broadcast, but it's the glamour of the awards that's creating the most anticipation.

"I remember watching the ECMAs at home on TV and getting so excited. As soon as it was over I'd take out my fiddle and play, they'd get me so pumped up.

"And this year I get to sit on the floor, so I'll have first-hand experience of what it feels like. It'll be wonderful being amongst all those musicians I've looked up to for so many years."

ECMA gala up against Super Bowl

Awards show producers optimistic about scoring with musical diversity

3's no crowd

Guthro, Rankin, each win 3 ECMA's

Male Artist: Bruce Guthro
New Artist: Crush
Group: Ennis Sisters
Bluegrass: Birchmountain Bluegrass Band
Songwriter: Jimmy Rankin and Gordie Sampson
Album: Bruce Guthro (Guthro)
Female Artist: Kendra MacGillivray
Entertainer: Natalie MacMaster
Single: Jimmy Rankin (Followed Her Around)
Country Artist: Jimmy Rankin
Pop: Bruce Guthro
Rock: Crush
Alternative: The Jimmy Swift Band
Jazz: Linda Carvery
Urban: Harvey Millar and Shy Luv
Blues: Glamour Puss
Roots/Traditional (Group): Sons of Maxwell
Roots/Traditional (Solo): Mary Jane Lamond
Gospel: Hallelujah Praise Choir
Instrumental: Kendra MacGillivray
Classical Recording: Ian McKinnon and Symphony Nova Scotia
Francophone Recording: Bois-Joli
Video: Sloan

Guthro, Rankin mine gold at East Coast awards

February 4, 2002 - Jam! Music on Canoe

Big night for C.B.

Rankin, Guthro, MacMaster win ECMA glory

ECMA hat-tricks scored

February 4, 2002 - Cape Breton Post

Talented Cape Breton artists take home big haul at ECMA

Veterans Jimmy Rankin, Bruce Guthro nab major honours at music awards show where Islanders come home empty

Modest haul for locals

February 4, 2002 - The Newfoundland Telegram

By Mark Vaughan-Jackson - The Telegram

Saint John, NB - Sunday night was a very good night if you were a male singer/songwriter from Cape Breton.

Cape Breton’s Jimmy Rankin and Bruce Guthro were the big winners at Sunday’s East Coast Music Awards, handed out here at a jam-packed gala broadcast on CBC-TV and radio. Fittingly, the broadcast was dedicated to the memory of Peter Gzowski, a longtime and avid supporter of East Coast music.

Newfoundland wasn’t totally cut off from the awards podium.

Now based out of Halifax, Crush — headed by Newfoundland musicians Cory Tetford and Paul Lamb — walked off with two awards — rock group of the year and new artist of the year, the latter including a cheque for $5,000 from CBC Galaxie.

“Any time you win an award it’s great. It’s a pat on the back that let’s you know the hard work that you’re putting in is heading you in the right direction,” Tetford said.

The Ennis Sisters left Saint John with the award for group of the year, continuing a trend of success for them at the ECMAs.

It was at an ECMA showcase that they first caught public attention outside Newfoundland, and at the ECMAs last year in Charlottetown, P.E.I., they signed their record deal with Warner Music.

Maureen, Karen and Teresa — poised to start a national tour with Jann Arden — said the award this year just strengthens their feelings for the ECMAs and their East Coast peers.

“ECMAs for us was definitely the start of it all (where) we were first recognized by the record company, the media and that sort of thing. That was the start of it for us and they’ve just encouraged us to continue and keep this up,” Teresa Ennis said. “We grew a lot musically and with this latest album we took another step, we showed the original side of our music. ECMAs is a huge thing for us every year.”

Guthro headed into the awards with seven nominations, just ahead of Jimmy Rankin’s six.

Both left the Harbour Station gala venue with three apiece.

Guthro won awards for best male artist, pop artist, and album of the year, while Rankin won for country artist, single of the year and SOCAN songwriter of the year for the song Followed Her Around — the latter award shared with co-writer and fellow Cape Bretoner, Gordie Sampson.

Guthro — who won all five ECMAs he was nominated for at the St. John’s awards show in 1999 — said he would have been glad to win just one in Saint John if only to say thanks to his fans.

“It’s more than I expected. It’s incredible, it’s an honour,” Guthro said after accepting his third award. “There’s a lot of great talent out there … it’s just fantastic to be in that company.”

Rankin — particular touched by the songwriting award — said winning the awards was like coming home. They marked a return — after a long absence — to the awards for Rankin, who was a regular at the podium in past years with his sisters and brother, John Morris Rankin — who died in a car accident two years ago — as The Rankin Family.

The 14th annual ECMAs also marked the end of Newfoundland’s seven-year ownership of the coveted Entertainer of the Year Award which went to Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster. The award, the only ECMA voted on by members of the public, had enjoyed a seven-year run for Newfoundlanders: The Irish Descendants in 1994, Great Big Sea from 1995-2000 and The Fables last year.

Having been nominated in each of the seven years Newfoundland acts have won the award, MacMaster finally beat out Newfoundland’s The Ennis Sisters, The Fables, Halifax’s Sloan and Bruce Guthro.

Despite the seven-year wait, MacMaster was gracious in victory.

“The award is the Entertainer of the Year Award and there’s so many great entertainers here,” she said. “Whether it’s me or The Fables or anybody, we love music and we love to play and that comes across, people get it. That’s what it’s about.”

Another multiple winner was Nova Scotia’s Kendra MacGillivray, winning for female artist and instrumental artist of the year.

While other Newfoundland nominees didn’t make it to the podium, some of them at least made it to the main stage.

Among the evening’s performers were three-time nominee Colleen Power, double nominee Rasa and hard rockers Bucket Truck.

Other awards presented Sunday were: blues artist, Glamour Puss; francophone artist, Bois Joli; Roots/traditional solo artist, Mary Jane Lamond; roots/traditional group, Sons of Maxwell; video of the year, Sloan; alternative group of the year, Jimmy Swift Band; gospel artist, Hallelujah Praise Choir; classical recording, Ian McKinnon and Symphony Nova Scotia; jazz artist, Linda Carvery; urban recording of the year, Harvey Millar and Shy Luv; bluegrass group of the year, Birchmountain Bluegrass Band.

New Brunswick fiddler and musical icon Ned Landry was the final honoureee of the evening, receiving the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement award.

Guthro and Rankin gather East Coast Music Awards

February 4, 2002 - CMT Canada

Bruce Guthro and Jimmy Rankin ended up the top winners after Sunday’s 14th Annual East Coast Music Awards.  Both singer/songwriters are from Cape Breton and both took home three awards after the evening was over.

Guthro was awarded Male Artist of the Year, Pop Artist of The Year and Album of The Year for ‘Guthro’, his sophomore release with EMI. His video for “Disappear” was a staple on CMT in late 2001. Guthro told the Canadian Press, “I feel great. With seven nominations, I was afraid I’d be shut out.” Guthro and Rankin were the top nominees for the ceremony, which capped the four-day, annual East Coast Music Conference and Festival, held in Saint John this year.

Rankin took home trophies for Country Artist of the Year, Single and Songwriter of the Year, along with Gordie Sampson, for “Followed Her Around”. Jimmy is the first of his siblings to hit the solo trail after the Rankins broke up as a group a few years ago and sees the ECMA wins as a boost to confidence. “This means a lot to me,” he said.

Other major awards went to Natalie MacMaster for Entertainer of The Year and to Newfoundland’s Ennis Sisters for Group of the Year. The Ennis Sisters signed their major record label deal with Warner Music Canada at last year’s awards in Charlottetown.

Rankin digs up folk roots

February 7, 2002 - Winnipeg Free Press

The New England Patriots weren't the only East Coast institution to clean up on Super Bowl Sunday.

Jimmy Rankin, formerly of Cape Breton Island's Rankin Family, was the big winner at the 2002 East Coast Music Awards, held in the shadow of the NFL championship this past Sunday in Saint John, NB.

Rankin won best single for his tune Followed Her Around, a share of the best songwriter prize and was also named best country artist.  Yet if you catch his show tomorrow or Saturday at Club Regent casino, you'll find he's more of a folkie.

"I'm a singer-songwriter, first and foremost," said Rankin in an interview from Halifax a week before he scored his hat trick at the ECMA's.

"The voting for any awards show is never perfect.  That goes for all of the ones I've been to.  But the East Coast Music Awards are actually quite good."

The recognition is a welcome bit of good news for Jimmy Rankin.  First came the breakup of The Rankin Family, his longtime musical project.  Then, in January 2000, his brother John Morris Rankin died in a car accident.

For Jimmy, recording a solo album was a cathartic experience.  He flew to Italy, hung out in Tuscany cafes and went to work at night in his hotel room writing songs on his guitar.

"I definitely needed to give myself a jump start," he said.  "I highly recommend a change of scenery - but you don't have to go all the way to Italy for that."

The result of Rankin's trip was a record called Song Dog, released in late 2001 on his own independent label.  It's also the album that won him the awards.

Jimmy Rankin performs this weekend with a four-piece band.  They'll play material from Song Dog as well as Rankin Family hits.

Advance tickets are available from Ticketmaster, 780-3333.

On his own

Jimmy Rankin's solo album makes its mark with fans old and new

By Cam Fuller / The StarPhoenix

Jimmy Rankin (Sunday at Louis' Pub) didn't want the band to end, but he always knew what his next move would be if it did.

The former frontman of the Rankin Family has nothing but good things to say about the decade he and his brother and sisters dominated the East Coast music scene and made an impressive impression nationally with songs like Fare Thee Well, Love.

"I miss playing, having a hoot on the road," Rankin said recently.

"We had a lot of good times, a lot of craziness.  The band was kickin' it really good and people were enjoying it.  But all good things must end."

Rankin knew he'd emerge as a solo musician once the family band retired in 1999.  (Their last show was in Saskatoon, of all places).  The only thing that delayed his plans was the death of his brother John Morris, who died in a car accident in early 2000.  Jimmy quit music altogether for awhile, but came back to it and created his solo debut album Song Dog.

The album made a big first impression with the catchy tune Followed Her Around.  The video was shot in a working strip club.  Rankin jokes that the idea came from his wife but in fact it was L.A. director George Dougherty.

"I thought he kind of hit the mark.  He hit the sense of humour and captured the meaning of the song."

The video "kind of created a bit of a stir" back home, Rankin says slightly impishly.  At the same time, it was a bit of a deliberate decision to distance himself from the wholesome image of the Rankin Family.

"I guess it was a step away from that."

Striking out on his own has been both liberating and demanding for Rankin.  He has total artistic freedom of course.  But he's also the guy when it comes to doing shows.

"I go up on stage and I have to do a 90-minute show with a band.  With the Rankins I would sing a song and pass it on to two or three other vocalists and soloists and maybe 20 minutes later it was back to me."

Not that he's complaining.  Rankin says he enjoys all sides of making music: the solitude of writing, the creativity of recording and the spontaneity of performing.

"I like all three aspects of it, and they're all totally different."

If going solo was a gamble, it's one that certainly paid off.  Rankin earned six East Coast Music Award nominations for Song Dog and won three, including best single for Followed Her Around and, oddly enough, best country artist.

Better yet is the fact that his music seems to be satisfying old fans and luring new ones.

"When you make a recording you put your heart and soul into it," he says.

Jimmy Rankin also plays Monday in Nipawin at the Evergreen Centre.

N.S. artists among Juno nominees

Our Lady Peace, Cohen, Nickelback lead the way

By Stephen Cooke / Entertainment Reporter & The Canadian Press

An old hand, a veteran band, the newest rock sensation in North America and a slew of East Coast talent are among the 2002 Juno nominees.

Leonard Cohen with four, Our Lady Peace with five and Nickelback with four were the leading nominees announced Monday at CTV's Masonic Temple studios in downtown Toronto at a news conference hosted by comedian Mike Bullard.

Our Lady Peace hauled in nominations for best album, group, single, album design and video.

Vancouver's Nickelback, who astonished fans and critics alike by becoming one of the biggest-selling rock acts in America last year, were named in the best album, group, single and rock album categories.

Cohen, whose career began before any of the members of Nickelback were born, was nominated for best artist, songwriter, album and video.

Nova Scotia rockers Sloan, Cape Breton-born singer/songwriter Jimmy Rankin, Cherry Brook R&B singer Jamie Sparks, Halifax alternative band Joel Plaskett Emergency, and Nova Scotia jazzman Mike Murley are also among the nominees.

Rankin said he never expects to be nominated for awards, but kind of thought something was up when he was asked Friday to attend the Juno news conference.

He received the news Monday morning, while on tour in Saskatchewan, that he got a nod in the country artist category and that his engineer, Brad Nelson, is up for best recording engineer for Rankin's hits, You and Me, and Followed Her Around.

"I'm delighted," said Rankin, over the phone from Saskatoon.

"It's funny, even when I was with The Rankins, we were nominated in the country category," Rankin said. "With my music, it's hard to classify. I consider myself more alternative country, than a traditional country artist."

It's been a good transition for Rankin into the solo entertainment world. Last week, he took home three East Coast Music Awards for his efforts on his Song Dog release.

Halifax rockers Sloan are up for best album for their Pretty Together release, and best single (If It Feels Good, Do It.)

"We tend to be bridesmaids at the Junos usually," said Sloan guitarist Jay Ferguson from Toronto following the announcement. "I think we won once, best alternative album for One Chord to Another, but we've been nominated for Navy Blues and Between the Bridges since then.

"I'm not counting on winning, but it's always nice to be recognized."

Sloan's presence in the best rock album category for Pretty Together is something of a triumph for the band, beating usual suspects like The Tea Party, Matthew Good Band and Our Lady Peace to a nomination.

Ferguson also took a certain satisfaction in landing the album's lead-off track, If It Feels Good Do It in the best single category, a first for the band.

For the front man of the Joel Plaskett Emergency, a best alternative album for Down at the Khyber was a welcome surprise considering the amount of activity in the broadly ranged genre. But he's careful not to let expectations get the better of him.

"With the company I'm keeping, it feels good to be nominated," said Plaskett, who shares the category with hotly hyped troubadours Hawksley Workman and Rufus Wainwright and Toronto favourites Rheostatics (on Halifax-based Perimeter Records) and The Constantines. "Basically it's an excuse to visit St. John's. Besides that, who knows?

"But it's cool to be on that list, even though everyone on it is a little higher up on the totem pole than I am."

Plaskett's first shot at a Juno Award was with his old band Thrush Hermit, even though they'd already broken up by the time the nomination came down. This time his trio the Joel Plaskett Emergency (with Dave Marsh and Tim Brennan) is in fine fighting form and he's better prepared to reap the benefits.

"It's a good prestige thing I suppose, and maybe it'll help sell a few more records," he said matter-of-factly. "But I don't know how many people are aware of who's up for the best alternative artist Juno Award."

A R&B/soul recording nomination for Cherry Brook singer-songwriter Jamie Sparks is a welcome boost after a busy year spent trying to establish himself in the U.S. with his album Unforgettable.

"This means you should never give up," said Sparks, who has turned his attention Stateside in recent years after attempting to break through in Canada proved to be an uphill climb.

In 2001 Sparks secured management in New York City and snagged airplay on BET, but the Juno nomination will be a help in getting attention at home.

Last year's big winner, Nelly Furtado, got two nods, for best album and best artist - she's also up for four Grammy awards.

Joining the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2002 is Hamilton-born producer Daniel Lanois.

This year's Juno celebrations will be held April 14 at Mile One Stadium in St. John's, Nfld., hosted by the Barenaked Ladies (CTV 9 p.m. Atlantic). Performers announced so far include Great Big Sea, Alanis Morissette, Furtado, Diana Krall, Marshall, Nickelback and Sum 41.

With Greg Guy, entertainment editor

"We're over the moon"

Ennis Sisters, Sloan, Jimmy Rankin nominated

By Sandy MacDonald / The Daily News

When the Juno Awards arrive in St. John’s on April 14, the hometown crowd will be rooting for the Ennis Sisters, nominated yesterday as best new country group. Fresh from being named the region’s best group at the East Coast Music Awards, the three sisters head into the splashy awards show as Newfoundland’s only nominee announced yesterday.

“We’re over the moon,” said Karen Ennis, from her parent’s home in St. John’s. “Even to be considered in the Junos is overwhelming. When we put this CD out, we had no idea how it was going to go. But the response has been absolutlely positive.”

The Ennis Sisters’ career has sky-rocketed in the past 12 months, signing a management contract, a major label record deal and hitting the national charts with It’s Not About You. “We’re not going in there looking to win, but we’re grateful to have the nomination.”

The 2002 Juno Awards will broadcast from Mile One Stadium, a recently opened 7,000-seat venue in St. John’s. Sloan is the region’s only multiple nominee, garnering a pair for best single (If it Feels Good, Do It) and for best rock album (Pretty Together).

Jimmy Rankin is nominated as best country artist, a category he won at the recent ECMA. With the success of his Followed Her Around single, Rankin has rekindled his career on Canadian country radio. “The nomination is totally unexpected, but I’m delighted,” said Rankin yesterday, from a hotel room in Saskatoon. The Cape Breton singer is in the midst of a western Canadian tour.

As a member of the Rankin Family, he’s already won three Junos as best country group, so the category is familiar ground. Though Rankin’s solo music leans more toward country, he says he’s appreciative to be in the race. “I don’t really consider myself to be a traditional country artist. But it’s just great to be nominated. The awards can certainly raise awareness for your music. It lets people know I’m out there.”

Some of the region’s brightest new talent has also been recognized. Halifax’s Joel Plaskett is nominated for best alternative album for his Down At The Khyber. “I’m happy about it,” says Plaskett. “Seems like I’m keeping pretty good company.” He’s nominated along with The Rheostatics, Rufus Wainwright, Hawksley Workman and the Constantines.

Ironically, Plaskett was nominated for the same Juno category a few years ago with his former band Thrush Hermit. “I kinda knew we wouldn’t win — we’d broken up by that point.”

Paskett has been receiving accolades from the U.K., and played some well-received shows there. “Canada is important, but it’s also important to go elsewhere,” says Plaskett. “It’s incredibly hard to make a living as an independent artist in this country.

Jamie Sparks received his first Juno nomination for his Unforgetable album in the R&B/soul recording category, and New Brunswick country singer J.R. Vautour is nominated for best new country artist.

Halifax-based jazz singer Jeri Brown is nominated for best vocal jazz album for Triptych album. Saxophonist Mike Murley, a Windsor native who lives in Toronto, was nominated in two categories — best contemporary jazz album for his work with Metalwood, and also in the traditional jazz category for his Live at the Senator album.

One frank Rankin

Jimmy's no cowboy, but he'll take the awards anyway

By Fish Griwkowsky

Song Dog is a really sharp record, full of Americana soul. That's the main thing to keep in mind about Jimmy Rankin, playing tonight at Festival Place. As if to prove the point, the show is a sellout - sorry about your luck if you missed tickets.

 Never mind why the Rankins, Canada's Celtic darlings, broke up in 1999. Nor why Jimmy keeps getting nailed to and nominated for country awards, even though he's about as Nashville as ... well, the Rankin Family was. See how hard it is to get away from the past? History can scar.

 But going through the tracks of Jimmy's solo album, you're suddenly wading naked in a deep pool of writing, the water murky and mysterious. There are wistful songs, funny ones and, of course, a few boozers. A man can only stagger so many miles from his roots, you understand.

 "I don't consider myself to be a traditional country artist," Rankin says on the phone from Banff, pointing out the obvious. Obvious to some, anyway. The Juno committee, like the CCMAs and radio, lumps him in with hat-and-twang acts like Paul Brandt and Adam Gregory. He's up for the best country artist Juno this April at the ceremony, for example.

 "In this country the 'country' category encompasses a lot of styles, unfortunately, or not. I'm trying to have an Americana feel, or alt country as it's called. I'm not a traditionalist, nor do I fit in on the radio. So I'm actually very pleased at the response."

 One-fifth as popular as the Rankins, to be exact, pretty good thanks to hits like the infectious Followed Her Around.

 "I wasn't thinking about the market when I wrote those songs. Most of them came over a span of years, I just threw it together, then threw it out there. It's kind of a cross-section of tunes from the late '80s to the present, songs I'd written long ago that I didn't feel fit the Rankin Family format. Some of them were brand new."

 One such song is Wasted, full of harmonicas, which he wrote in Italy about an old relationship. "I don't really think it's a sad song. Before I started making the record I needed a change of scenery. I wrote it over there in Tuscany in a fury, after a night of debauchery," he laughs.

 Rankin lives in Halifax with his wife, and the touring band he's bringing with him tonight includes a keyboard player, a bass player, a drummer and another guitarist, all of them from Nova Scotia, none of them members of his family. His sisters had various luck getting on Song Dog.

 "Cookie sang on the record, and Heather was going to. We don't play as a family any-more, but we see each other. Heather came out and stayed with us in Halifax recently. Cookie's married now, living outside of Nashville. She married the record producer from our last album, actually."

 "I just wanted to make an honest record and I got to. My time with the band was wonderful and rewarding, but things just feel like they're getting going now."

 Thus ends our update on the Rankin file.

The Chronicles of Jimmy Rankin

February 15, 2002 - Campbell River Mirror

The former musical leader of the Rankin family is bringing his solo tour to Courtenay and Campbell River this month.

Jimmy Rankin will be supporting his new album, Song Dog, at the Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River on Feb. 21.

After 10 years of touring, numerous hit singles, multiple Juno awards and sales of over two million albums with his brother and sisters – The Rankins which disbanded in 1999 – Jimmy Rankin emerged last year with his debut album Song Dog and moves into the realm of solo singer-songwriter.

Rankin is a chronicler of human experience: love, fate, wanderlust, fear and destination.

Through imagery, he seamlessly transports you from the waters edge in a harbour town to the gritty streets of the city, visual and musical boundaries blur on this album.

Raw emotion and masterful musicality meet pop, roots rock and Celtic-tinged flavours head-on. With Song Dog, Rankin delivers a collection of 12 tracks packed with thought-provoking lyrics, stirring melodies and edgy hooks that clearly represent a fresh, new direction for one of Canada’s most beloved recording artists.

Known nationwide as a vocalist, guitar player and principle songwriter for The Rankins, Song Dog firmly cements Rankin’s status on the solo stage as among Canada’s premier songwriters.

“I am grateful for my years with The Rankins,” says Rankin. “It was all tremendously rewarding.”

The Rankins won countless ECMAs, several CCMAs, and five Junos including Entertainer of the Year and Single of the Year for Jimmy’s self-penned song “Fare Thee Well Love,” The Rankins’ signature song, which broke the band on Canadian radio. As well, for his various hit singles, Jimmy accumulated five SOCAN awards based on top radio airplay.

Despite their success, Jimmy says of the Rankins’ break-up; “It was time for a change.

“We were at different places in our lives, and we wanted to do different things.”

After a two-year hiatus from playing, partly from recording constraints but primarily due to the untimely death of his brother and band mate, John Morris, Rankin went into the studio.

“I’ve always wanted to make a solo record to explore another part of my creative headspace. It was simply time to get back at it.

“My brother was and continues to be incredibly important to me. He will be with me forever,” he says quietly.

Not surprisingly, Song Dog is dedicated to the memory of John Morris.

Rankin steps into solo spotlight

February 16, 2002 - Calgary Sun

Jimmy Rankin's elation at his recent triple win at the annual East Coast Music Awards may have had a little confusion mixed in.

 On the strength of his debut solo album, Song Dog, the singer-songwriter earned nods for songwriter of the year, single of the year, and -- and here's the baffling one -- country artist of the year.

 "I'm still trying to figure out what the definition of Canadian country music is," says Rankin, who performs tonight at the old MacEwan Ballroom.

 "But I guess I rank in there."

 Song Dog is actually Rankin's attempts to establish himself as a singer-songwriter in the vein of Gordon Lightfoot, or, on a more contemporary level, someone like Steve Earle.

 The need to prove his songwriting skill isn't something you think would be necessary given his tenure in one of Canada's most beloved acts, Cape Breton musical clan The Rankin Family. "It's interesting because I wrote most of the songs for the Rankins over the years and I think a lot of people aren't really aware of that," he says.

 "I'm kind of educating people again."

 When the family band broke up in 1999 -- after a decade which saw the quintet selling more than two million records -- Jimmy took the opportunity to record the album which had been on the backburner.

 The delay is so