PREVIEW

Who: The Rankin Family with Dawn Langstroth
Where: Royal Theatre
When: Tonight at 8
Tickets: $65.25 in advance at the MacPherson box office or by phone at 386-6121

The first tour of Canada by the Rankin Family in almost a decade won't be easy, that's for sure.

Seven years after the band split amicably, and nearly a decade since 1998's Uprooted, their final album together, Canada's favourite family band has taken the reunion plunge.

Sadly, this time out they'll be on the road with heavy hearts.

Not only will they be without unofficial leader John Morris Rankin, who was killed in a car accident in 2000, they will be fresh from another family funeral. Yesterday, they held a service for Geraldine Rankin, a one-time member of the band in the '70s who died Jan. 10 of a brain aneurysm at her home in Calgary. She was 49.

The sudden death forced the Cape Breton band to postpone its tour-starting concerts scheduled for Sunday and Monday at Nanaimo's Port Theatre. The tour will now begin tonight in Victoria at the Royal Theatre. In an interview conducted prior to Geraldine's death, Raylene Rankin discussed how difficult touring would be without their older brother along for the ride.

The band -- which also includes sisters Cookie and Heather, and brother Jimmy -- hopes to keep his spirit alive through songs he shaped as the band's musical director. He'll be there in spirit. Joining the Rankins on their tour of Canada is 19-year-old Molly Rankin, John Morris's daughter.

The trek, which wraps Feb. 15 in St. John's, N.L., is in support of their forthcoming new album, suitably titled Reunion. "To be honest, I resisted the idea in the beginning," Raylene said from her home in Halifax. "They'll kill me for telling you that. But it's not the way it was 10 years ago. (Back then) we were all single and didn't have families and homes. But it sort of came together."

Calgary music promoter Jeff Parry got the comeback ball rolling last year, Raylene said. He proffered a convincing argument to reunite, one that stirred memories in the family of its successful run as the country's leading folk group.

The group's Celtic-inspired major label debut, 1992's Fare Thee Well Love, was a monumental success for a group that, to that point, was merely an East Coast phenomenon.

The Rankin Family became a national treasure almost overnight the following year, during which they won Canadian Entertainer of the Year, Group of the Year, Country Group of the Year and Single of the Year (for the album's title track) at the Juno Awards.

It was a heady time for the siblings, who were raised in Mabou, N.S., a fishing port on the west coast of Cape Breton. It was there that the 12 brothers and sisters learned how to play and sing, and continue to do so at the family homestead when the opportunity presents itself.

Three of the four siblings who have reunited under the Rankin Family banner -- Heather, Raylene and Jimmy -- now live in Halifax, but the pull of home is too much to resist.

Two years ago, Cookie, Heather, Raylene and older sister Genevieve bought the Red Shoe pub in Mabou as a way of keeping family ties to their community. It's a seasonal business, open only from June to October, but it prompts many a visit by members of the family.

Even Cookie, who lives in Nashville, makes a habit of stopping by, Raylene said. "If you know us, we're not exactly pub crawlers. But the pub represents more than just a pub. In many ways, it's a meeting place for people in Mabou. It has taken on a name for a place to go to hear live, traditional local music. Those two things were really attractive to us. We try to spend part of our summers there, and the place was really forlorn after (the previous owner) closed her up and people were really not happy about it."

Raylene left the band in 1998 to raise her newborn son, Alexander. She does not regret her decision to leave, but is glad she accepted the opportunity to reunite with her kin for another tour. She's unsure how long it will last, but plans to enjoy it nonetheless.

"The plan is just to see how this goes ... and make some music together. Jimmy's got a solo album pretty well ready, and us sisters are always doing projects together. It's not the same as 10 years ago, where it was have-dress-will-travel. We have other things on the go, so it's not as easy to commit any more."

The past decade feels like yesterday for Raylene. Her only regret is that she didn't enjoy it as much as she should have.

"It feels like a blip, honest to God. I definitely wish I had savoured every moment. You try to, but you get caught up in all the stuff that goes on. All the travelling that we did, instead of worrying about getting dehydrated and not being able to sing that night, I wish I had gone out to see more museums and experience the travelling more. That's so much a part of it.

"When you look back you don't think about every performance. You think about the city, the experiences you had and the laughs you had."

THE RANKIN FAMILY
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Tickets $59.50 at Ticketmaster
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When the Rankin Family takes the stage tomorrow night, they will be marking both happy reunions and unexpected departures.

It will be the second show of their cross-Canada tour, which is in support of their most recent album, aptly titled Reunion. It is the first time in eight years that the musical family has come together to collaborate on an album and tour.

But tomorrow's concert also falls just one week after the death of their sister Geraldine Coyne, who suffered a fatal aneurysm at her Calgary home last Wednesday at the age of 49.

As well, today marks the seventh anniversary of the death of John Morris Rankin, the eldest of the five original Rankins in the group. John Morris died in 2000 when his truck plunged into the icy Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The Vancouver Sun spoke with Jimmy Rankin last week, the day before his sister died, about the reunion, the loss of John Morris, and the addition of a new member to the family band.

He was still a little breathless from a day of rehearsing in Halifax, but sounded confident and enthusiastic to be returning to the stage with his sisters after such a long absence.

If anything, he said, the time that's passed has made the Cape Breton band stronger.

"Things haven't changed much. I think people are better musicians now. It's been almost 10 years and you just get better as a musician -- better singers, better performers and that goes for everybody," he said.

Just a few months before John Morris's death, The Rankin Family had announced it was disbanding so everyone could pursue their own interests. They had won heaps of awards and enjoyed tremendous popularity in the early '90s with the release of Fare Thee Well Love.

Since the 1999 breakup, the women of the group -- Raylene, Cookie and Heather -- have done the odd concert together and Jimmy Rankin has been working on a solo career (his third solo album is scheduled to be released in April).

The siblings hadn't been planning the reunion, but a promoter friend of the band's approached Jimmy last year and asked if he would approach the sisters about a tour.

"We started talking and we discussed it and everyone was interested. There was the question of whether we could reunite without John Morris, but basically we decided we could do it," he said.

"Like all other things concerning The Rankins, it snowballed into us being down in Nashville and making a full-length record and releasing it to stores.

"The time is right, for one thing. There's been enough water under the bridge since [the group parted ways]."

Joining the Rankin foursome on the CD and the tour is John Morris's 19-year-old daughter Molly, who wrote a song on the album and is taking a semester off from university to play Canadian stages with her aunts and uncle.

"Having Molly there, I'm really excited. I'm just delighted because she is, in a lot of ways, like her dad, but in very much her own person, her own individual style."

The new album has several melancholy songs about departures, expansive oceans and the closing track is called Gone. But Jimmy Rankin laughs for the first time during the interview when asked whether there's one song on the album that stands as a tribute to his late brother.

"That [sense of melancholy] is very much a Rankin theme. I think it's just the culture we come from," he said.

He went on to explain that Johnny Cope is a clear nod of remembrance to John Morris, who recorded the song back in 1990 at the CBC studios in Halifax.

Jimmy doesn't think this is a permanent reunion for the band, but said it will always be natural and easy for the family to come together to make music.

"It actually feels great," he said. "We've been playing music together since we were kids so it's a kind of chemistry you can't really put your finger on -- it's just there and the vocals just blend."

Rankin Family to resume reunion tour

January 16, 2007 - CBC Arts

A subdued family affair

January 17, 2007 - Victoria Times Colonist

By Adrian Chamberlain, Times Colonist

WHO: THE RANKIN FAMILY WITH DAWN LANGSTROTH

WHERE: Royal Theatre

WHEN: Last night

RATING: 3 (out of five)

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It was a bittersweet time for Rankin Family fans.

Last night, the Royal Theatre was sardine-packed with devotees, pleased to see the popular Celtic-folk family band together again after a seven year hiatus.

But this time it was without leader John Morris, who died in an auto accident seven years ago.

And of course, fans know that Geraldine Rankin -- an early member -- passed away just one week ago. It was that sad occurrence that caused the Cape Bretoners to cancel Nanaimo concerts slated for Sunday and Monday.

And so the Rankin Family's tour of Canada began in Victoria, not Nanaimo.

It was a sweet, but subdued show, certainly less lively than the energetic step-dancing-filled extravaganzas of the mid-'90s.

Raylene Rankin made reference to her lost siblings in mid-set, simply noting: "There are no words to describe this, so we're going to pass it to [band member] Mac Morin on piano."

Morin followed by playing a simple, pretty tune on the baby grand, accompanied by guitar.

Yet, while the circumstances were rather sad, the evening was by no means a wake. Jimmy Rankin started the evening off with a lively soft-rock rendition of Roving Gypsy Boy, enhanced by Morin's mandolin picking. Raylene, shaking a red tambourine, followed with Gillis Mountain. The tale of a pioneering mountain family is a bluegrass-styletune that benefited from her sweet girlish singing.

One of the Rankin Family's most distinguishing and endearing features is the three-part harmonies of Raylene, Cookie and Heather.

Last night, the trio's singing didn't quite have the keening bite of a decade ago -- although perhaps the sound was dulled by the time it reached my nose-bleed seat in the back row of the upper balcony.

Still, the harmonies are intact, and retain their odd sense of mystery and backwoods beauty.

This was especially apparent when the threesome took centre-stage to sing an old Gaelic song about a brown haired girl.

The intertwined vocal lines sounded downright seraphic and almost (curiously enough) Eastern European.

For the crowd -- which welcomed the Rankins warmly -- high points included a rousing, clap-along rendition of the traditional song Tell Me Ma ("She is handsome/she is pretty/she is the belle of Belfast city") and Jimmy Rankin's North Country, the story of a young man hoboing his way through the countryside.

Some of the evening's best moments were provided by twin violinists who tapped into the rollicking East Coast Celtic sound many had doubtlessly come for.

Overall, the concert didn't quite have the cohesion and joie de vivre it might have -- still, this will likely improve as the tour progresses.

The evening was opened by a short but very promising set by Dawn Langstroth.

The singer-songwriter happens to be Anne Murray's daughter, and Langstroth -- not surprisingly -- has some of the low, thrilling richness that makes Murray's singing distinctive.

However, this young vocalist sings in a folk-pop style that's closer to that of Jann Arden, with whom Langstroth has performed.

Accompanied by a guitarist, she sang covers such as Sheryl Crow's A Change Will Do You Good, as well as her own well-crafted tunes.

Photo: The Rankin Family at the Royal Theatre in Victoria Tuesday night on the start of their nationwide tour. Jimmy Rankin sings a song from his new recording. Victoria, B.C. on Tuesday, January 16, 2007. Photo by Bruce Stotesbury/ Victoria Times Colonist

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Rankins take family reunion on the road

The Rankin Family plays the Saddledome on Tuesday

January 22, 2007 - Calgary Herald

By Mike Devlin, CanWest News Service

The first tour of Canada by the Rankin Family in almost a decade won't be easy, but it sure will be fun, according to Raylene Rankin.

"It's nothing that we haven't done before," she says, "just having some fun and singing some songs."

Seven years after the band split amicably, and nearly a decade since 1998's Uprooted, the final album together, Canada's favourite family band has taken the reunion plunge.

Sadly, this time out the Cape Breton band be on the road with heavy hearts.

Not only will they be without unofficial leader John Morris Rankin, who was killed in a car accident in 2000, they will be fresh from another family

funeral. On Jan. 15, they held a service for Geraldine Rankin, a one-time member of the band in the '70s who died Jan. 10 of a brain aneurysm at her home in Calgary. She was 49.

In an interview conducted prior to Geraldine's death, Raylene Rankin discussed how difficult touring would be without their older brother along for the ride.

The band -- which also includes sisters Cookie and Heather, and brother Jimmy -- is hoping to keep his spirit alive through songs he shaped as the band's musical director.

A part of him will be there in more than spirit. Joining the Rankins on the 22-date tour of Canada is 19-year-old Molly Rankin, John Morris's daughter.

The trek -- which hits Calgary on Tuesday -- is in support of the forthcoming new album, suitably titled Reunion.

"To be honest, I resisted the idea in the beginning," Raylene says. "They'll kill me for telling you that, but it's not the way it was 10 years ago. (Back

then) we were all single and didn't have families and homes. But it sort of came together."

Calgary music promoter Jeff Parry got the comeback ball rolling last year, Raylene says. He proffered a convincing argument to reunite, one that stirred memories in the family of its successful run as the country's leading folk group.

The group's Celtic-inspired major label debut, 1992's Fare Thee Well Love, was a monumental success for a group that, to that point, was merely an East Coast phenomenon.

The Rankin Family became a national treasure almost overnight the following year, during which they won Canadian Entertainer of the Year, Group of the Year, Country Group of the Year and Single of the Year (for the album's title track) at the Juno Awards.

It was a heady time for the siblings, who were raised in Mabou, N.S., a fishing port on the west coast of Cape Breton. It was there that the 12 brothers and sisters learned how to play and sing, and continue to do so at the family homestead when the opportunity presents itself.

Three of the four siblings who have reunited under the Rankin Family banner -- Heather, Raylene and Jimmy -- now live in Halifax.

Raylene left the band in 1998 to raise her newborn son, Alexander. She doesn't regret her decision to leave, but is glad she accepted the opportunity to reunite with her kin for another tour.

She's unsure how long it will last, but plans to enjoy it nonetheless.

"The plan is just to see how this goes and to have some fun and make some music together. Jimmy's got a solo album pretty well ready, and us sisters are always doing projects together. It's not the same as 10 years ago, where it was have-dress-will-travel. We have other things on the go, so it's not as easy to commit any more."

The past decade feels like yesterday for Raylene. Her only regret is she didn't enjoy it as much as she should have.

"When you look back you don't think about every performance. You think about the city, the experiences you had and the laughs you had."

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Bittersweet family reunion

The Rankin Family plays the 'Dome Jan. 23

January 23, 2007 - Calgary Sun

By Mike Bell

For many, the beginning of a new year is the opportunity to start over. For The Rankin Family, it’s proving to be a time to mourn.

"January is a rough month,” Jimmy Rankin says somewhat somberly.

Understandable, really, considering the Cape Breton singing family just finished burying sister Geraldine, who was part of the act during its initial incarnation in the ’70s.

Her death — she died of brain aneurism at her home in Calgary — came days before the seventh anniversary of the death of brother John Morris, also an original member who spearheaded the version of the band which dominated the Canadian musical landscape through the ’90s.

Ironically, that version of The Rankin Family — with Jimmy, and sisters Raylene, Cookie and Heather — was set to kick off a reunion tour when they received word of their sibling’s death, which has cast a pall over an otherwise joyous time.

“Geraldine’s passing was so sudden and senseless — it always takes a lot of time to wrap your head around that,” says Jimmy.

“It happened right when this tour was supposed to start and we made the decision to basically go from a funeral to a stage and I think it was a good

thing.

“It keeps everybody busy and the shows have been going really well.”

The tour, which brings the family to the Saddledome on Jan. 23, is the first for the Rankins collectively in almost a decade.

It was actually Calgary promoter Jeff Parry who coaxed them away from the other projects they were focussed on.

Jimmy, who has released a couple of well-received gritty singer-songwriter albums, was immediately piqued and made the call to the rest of the crew.

“It was like when we got together in 1989 and put a show together and started making records — everybody was at a crossroads at that point in their lives and in their careers and it just sort of happened naturally,” says Jimmy, who has another solo album ready for release. “That’s kind of the way it happened this time around.”

Natural, too, was the recording of the Reunion CD, which was initially intended as an EP for them to sell off the stage during the tour but grew into a full-length commercially available disc featuring tracks written by The Rankins — including a couple of John Morris compositions — as well as covers.

Filled with East Coast warmth and charm, it will definitely appeal to those fans of The Rankin Family, who followed the band through their Juno-winning, chart-topping heyday either as adults or even, it turns out, genetic matter.

“It was really remarkable to see how many kids were at the show in Vancouver,” Jimmy says.

Tying that theme together — passing of the music to other generations — with the theme of loss is the appearance on the tour and album of John Morris’ daughter Molly.

Jimmy says her presence has meant a great deal to the surviving members — musically and emotionally.

“She’s very much her own person and her own stylist,” says the proud uncle. “But in so many ways she reminds me of him in her mannerisms and the way she carries herself and the way she approaches music.”

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Rankins rise again with new album, cross-country tour

January 24, 2007 - Edmonton Journal

By Peter North

CONCERT PREVIEW
The Rankin Family
When: Thursday
Where: Jubilee Auditorium
Tickets: $59.50 plus service charges/Ticketmaster outlets

As a concert promoter, Calgary's Jeff Parry has come up with a number of good ideas over the last 20 years, but his latest incandescent lightbulb of a thought has music fans smiling from one end of this country to the other.

Last year it was Parry who suggested to Heather, Cookie, Raylene and Jimmy Rankin that the time was right for a reunion and that fans would be lining up for tickets if a cross-Canada tour was organized.

After taking a breath and thinking about the idea for all of a few days, it was official: The Rankin Family would be back together for the first time since 1999.

In a blink Parry booked 22 venues, and not long afterward the team of singers and songwriters started working on a new album with Cookie Rankin's award-winning husband, American record producer George Massenburg.

"It happened because somebody else was willing to do all the footwork. All we want to do is get up on the stage. The business part of the music business can be a pain, and we haven't had to deal with any of that this time around," says the singer who enjoyed an incredible string of successes in the '90s. The Rankins turned the top of the Canadian adult contemporary and country charts into targets and in turn hit bullseyes with songs like Roving Gypsy Boy, Rise Again, North Country and Fare Thee Well Love.

Because Cookie Rankin lives just outside Nashville with husband George, who won a couple of Grammy Awards for his work with Linda Ronstadt and another for the first Trio album with Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton, it only made sense the group come together again in Tennessee.

"We threw a bit of everything we do into the pot and kept it fairly upbeat," says the singer of the sessions that found the foursome all contributing new material to the project.

With a laugh, Cookie Rankin insists that one of Massenburg's strengths "is that he is married to me."

"George is connected to us, he's family. It's personal for him and he worked for weeks mixing the songs. We were able to record in a beautiful new studio called Blackbird and all the musicians played together live off the floor. It gave the sessions a feeling not unlike that of playing and singing in the living room."

That Massenburg, whose staggering list of credits also includes work with James Taylor, Billy Joel, The Dixie Chicks, Lyle Lovett and Little Feat, also tapped the instrumental talents of many of Nashville's finest also helps put the Reunion record on a pedestal. Guitarist/singer Jon Randall, who has worked with Emmylou Harris; pianist Pete Wasner from Vince Gill's band; bassist Byron House; and drummer Vinnie Santoro, who plays with Rodney Crowell, were just a few of the musicians pitching ringers on the sessions.

"I'm really liking the record," gushes Cookie, who was all too aware for the past six years that if the Rankins ever regrouped one integral personality

would be missing. John Morris, the oldest brother of this Rankin clan, tragically died in a car accident in 2000.

"John Morris was our musical leader, he centred us. We do have his daughter Molly on the tour and she wrote a tune for the album. She's singing and playing fiddle and it's comforting to have her with us," says Cookie, who has recovered from a broken knee she suffered in November.

"It feels good to have done this although we haven't commited to anything beyond this tour. We'll see what we all think after this tour is over."

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Maritimers make magic

January 24, 2007 - Prince George Free Press

By Teresa Mallan, Free Press

The Rankins also known (again) as The Rankin Family, rank right up there. I have always thought so but it wasn’t until I saw them perform live at the CN Centre Sunday, that their Maritime magic truly rubbed off on me. Count me now in the ranks of Rankins’ fans.

It’s been awhile, eight years, since they came this way, but 2,300 Prince George fans greeted the family from Inverness County, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia with wide open arms, hoots and hollers. The band’s songster sisters Cookie, Heather and Raylene, their guitarist/singer/songwriter brother Jimmy and five talented musicians were a big hit. Before this leg of their reunion tour was over, they had people dancing on the floor, jumping to their feet in the stands, clapping and singing along.

It was wonderful.

The stage was set with heavy, formal, ruby-tone draperies so when you walked in, it felt like you were in Carnegie Hall waiting for the maestro to appear. So when The Rankins walked on stage and Jimmy said casually into the microphone, “We’re the Rankins” and just started playing, the mood was set.

I think the crowd would agree they got much more than their money’s worth. I lost count of how many songs they did. Cookie called some oldies, “blasts from the past,” reaching back into their repertoire to when it all began in the late 1980s and then fast forwarding to some tracks from their new album, The Rankin Family Reunion.

Jimmy, who changed guitars it seemed with every song, delighted fans with Slipping Away from his new solo CD, Edge of Day, to be released this spring.

Sifting through Rankin family originals and covers, they came up with tunes like Roving Gypsy Boy, Movin’ On, Followed Her Around, You Feel the Same Way Too, Maybe You’re Right and Let it Go and they made sure they got in Orangedale Whistle. They aced them all. In between songs, there was sibling ribbing and lots of humour. As in any concert, there were undeniable highlights. Howie MacDonald gave a rollicking, fun fiddling performance that won him wild applause even before he was joined on stage by young Molly Rankin who raised the tempo and kicked the applause-o-meter up another notch.

For me, Raylene’s soulful, signature song Rise Again (she ended with the playful remark, “I’m not sure I’m happy with that last note, maybe I should do it again”) was absolutely breathtaking. So was Heather’s singing of Fare Thee Well Love. Gillis Mountain was sensational. During the show, the Rankin sisters sang solo or in harmony but a Gaelic song, performed in harmony with solo spots, left the audience spellbound. All three sisters (from a family of 12 children) have beautiful voices with the kind of range that allows them to criss-cross into many musical genres to come up with their special brew of Celtic with traditional and contemporary folk and pop.

More than all that, The Rankins gave the crowd energy. They sent ripples of excitement into the audience until everyone was standing on their feet, clapping and singing along. The group’s unique music and soulful ballads have won them a place performing for royalty and heads of state but I got the impression the Rankins give it their all, no matter who is in the audience. Over the years, The Rankins have been racking up music awards like bowling pins, selling records and garnering fans worldwide. Sunday’s performance gave a glimpse as to why.

There was a moving tribute to one of the non-performing Rankins, who died recently.

“We lost our brother John Morris [in a car accident in 2000] and now we are grieving for our sister, Geraldine. There are no words to describe our sorrow,” said Cookie who briefly left the stage with her sisters, leaving musicians to showcase their talents with an instrumental number and piano solo. Later, in their encore performance, Cookie, Heather and Molly showed off some fancy footwork, performing a lively step dance as the crowd clapped in appreciation. When they left the stage and waved to the audience, it was as if The Rankins were saying goodbye to long lost friends.

And maybe they were.

Photo: John McKENZIE/Free Press Jimmy Rankin wins over the crowd Sunday playing the Rankin Family’s “blast from the past” tunes.

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Funeral to stage, Rankins deal with death in family

January 25, 2007 - Edmonton Sun

By Jenny Feniak, Edmonton Sun

It should have been a triumphant time for the Rankin Family.

A much-anticipated reunion tour was ignited with the release of The Rankin Family: Reunion Exclusive Tour Edition Jan. 9.

But all the excitement was extinguished the next day when the Cape Breton family's sister Geraldine died suddenly in Calgary following a brain aneurysm.

"It's just hard to go from a funeral to a stage," Jimmy Rankin said, the day after resuming the cross-country tour, which brings the group to the Jubilee Auditorium tonight.

"We decided to go ahead. We did our show Tuesday in Victoria and that one was a hard one to do."

Having called it quits almost a decade ago, the Rankins announced a reunion recording and 22-date tour slated to begin Jan. 14. With Geraldine's funeral organized for the following day, the resilient family cancelled its first two dates but decided to keep the music alive.

Missing the oldest brother and band fiddler, John Morris, who died in a car accident in early 2000, already made for a bittersweet reunion.

John Morris's 19-year-old daughter Molly represents the family's second generation in the group, singing, dancing and fiddling like her father. She

also wrote the song Sunsets, which appears on the new full-length album.

Geraldine (Rankin) Coyne, who played piano in the first incarnation of the Rankin Family in the '70s, was just 49 when she died and leaves behind, besides her 10 living siblings, a husband and two young children.

"There were a lot of decisions to be made at a time of grief," said Jimmy Rankin.

The musical family dug deep to solve the logistical and financial problems of rebooking a cross-country tour.

After all, music is a part of the fabric of life for the Rankins. At one point or another, nine of the 12 musical Rankin siblings from the small town of Mabou, Nova Scotia played in the family band.

"(Our parents) had musicians over at the house all the time for house parties and that's sort of where we started," says Rankin, who joined in on the drums at the age of 12. "There was a time when we were all underage playing at dances.

"It was just a natural progression to go on and start making records when the opportunity presented itself. We were old enough and everybody was at a crossroads in their life."

Capitol/EMI signed the musical family and rereleased the band's 1990 independent recording Fare Thee Well Love, which went five-times platinum, selling more than 500,000 copies, while they collected numerous Juno and East Coast Music Awards.

"In 1999, we had done 10 years of basically making records and recordings and dealing with the business and I think basically it had run its course,'' said Rankin, adding that any thought of a reunion at that point was quashed with John Morris's death a few months later.

A longtime promoter of the band suggested a new Rankins recording, which snowballed from a four-song EP to a full-length album, plus a DVD feature and cross-country tour. The family headed down to Nashville to record with Grammy Award-winning producer and engineer George Massenburg.

"We made a record with him in 1997 and Cookie ended up marrying him. So he's family now and when it came time to make this record, he was the first guy we thought of," said Rankin, who just finished recording his third solo album, Edge of Day.

Over the last decade, Raylene Rankin has also pursued a solo career while doing Christmas tours with her sisters from time to time.

Although a great opportunity for Molly to be seen and heard, chances are she'll have to foster a new family band if the Rankins are to carry on.

"I think this is just a one-off Rankin reunion," says Jimmy Rankin, who will start touring in support of his own record later this spring.

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Bittersweet reunion: Rankin's roadtrip off to tragic start with sister's death

January 25, 2007 - Saskatoon StarPhoenix

By Joanne Paulson, The StarPhoenix

THE RANKIN FAMILY
Saturday, 8 p.m.
Tickets $63.75
Call 938-7800 or online www.ticketmaster.ca
- - -
The Rankin Family has not toured together in eight years, but it feels so natural to be back out there, it might as well have been yesterday for Jimmy Rankin.

"Everything is there; everything is muscle reflex," said Rankin in an interview from Grande Prairie, Alta. "It's really great. I'd forgotten how much fun the show is."

He's back on a month-long tour with sisters Raylene, Heather and Cookie, as well as his late brother John Morris's daughter Molly.

Sadly, the tour got off to a terrible start. The Rankins, who lost John Morris in 2000, were shocked by the death of their sister Geraldine Coyne. She died suddenly of an aneurysm in mid-January.

The family was "very saddened," by her unexpected death, said Rankin.

They have bravely picked up and moved on after attending her funeral a week ago Monday, where they also sang in tribute to her. Two soldout shows in Nanaimo, B.C., had to be cancelled, so the tour began in Victoria.

Rankin calls it "a Rankin show, with fiddle and dancing and some new materials." The new songs come from their first CD since 1998's Uprooted.

"We recorded a new CD in September, when we . . . made the decision to do this tour. The promoter asked us if we could record an EP of four songs."

Heather, Raylene and Jimmy Rankin headed from Halifax to Nashville, where Cookie lives, with the intention of putting together those four songs (Cookie's Grammy-winning husband George Massenburg was producing). But once they started recording, the music started to pour out of them. Included in Reunion, the aptly-titled album, are some John Morris fiddle and piano tracks he had recorded before his death.

A few of those songs will appear at the tour concerts, said Rankin.

"In the show, the idea was to do a greatest hits package . . . . and some standard Rankin arrangements of traditional music. It's a combination of both," plus the new songs, Rankin added.

Molly Rankin is pitching right in, and is "very, very much a part of the show," said her uncle.

"Molly grew up around Rankin music and her dad taught her how to play Celtic music," he said. "About four or five years ago she started writing songs and singing. She's got a whole batch of original songs. For this album, we asked her if she would like to record a song for it."

She did, and they liked it so much, the elder Rankins asked if she wanted to come on tour.

"I'm really thrilled to have people see her. She's such a multi-talented kid. She's grown up around our music and around Cape Breton; she knows the whole thing. It's almost like osmosis."

Rounding out the Western part of the tour is Dawn Langstroth, Anne Murray's daughter, who opens for the Rankins.

The tour is going well, but Rankin admits he was a little worried beforehand whether people would respond.

"You really have to keep people, make people aware that you're out there. It's so competitive. Initially I was kind of concerned going out . . . but people have remembered. They're coming out to the shows," he said.

The Rankins are touring with a drummer, bass player, guitar layer, pianist and fiddler, making 10 on stage. The group together makes a full sound that is very much like the old days, said Rankin.

"We sing with that intensity and perform with that intensity due to the fact we grew up playing in dance halls where you had to perform that way," Rankin.

"It's fun. The audiences have been great.

"It's been a while; I forgot how much fun it is to be on stage, sing those songs."

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It's still about the music

January 25, 2007 - Regina Leader Post

By Myrna Stark-Leader, Special to the Leader-Post

THE RANKIN FAMILY
7 p.m., Sunday
Conexus Arts Centre
Main Theatre
- - -
Eight years ago, the highly-acclaimed, Cape Breton Rankin Family went their separate ways. The five group members -- siblings Jimmy, John Morris, Cookie, Raylene and Heather -- wanted to pursue their own careers and families.

Much has happened since. Jimmy has released two solo albums with a third on the way. Raylene has also produced an album and toured and, on a sad note, John Morris was killed in a car accident in 2000.

The family wasn't considering a musical reunion until an Alberta promoter they worked with in the past approached Jimmy. The promoter was listening to old Rankin CDs and suggested it was time.

Jimmy Rankin called his sisters and they began making plans for a few tour dates and a five-song EP.

"It just started out as an idea and then it snowballed into a cross-country tour with a record and a DVD," Jimmy says from his home on the East Coast.

The big question: Would it be an actual Rankin show without John Morris?

"The first day was a little, you know," Jimmy pauses lost for words to describe rehearsal. "There was probably concern about how things would turn out, but the band was well rehearsed and once we started singing we knew it was there. It never goes away."

Their blend of original songs, traditional jigs, reels and Celtic folk songs, plus wonderful harmonies earned the Rankins tremendous success in the late '80s and '90s. The most notable albums were The Rankin Family in 1989 and Fare Thee Well Love in 1990. The title track, also titled "Fare Thee Well Love," hit the Canadian Top 40. The group went on to collect 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Junos, four Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada awards, three Canadian Country Music Awards and two Big Country Music Awards.

Jimmy says the new show mixes the best Rankin material, traditional and fiddle music, step dancing and some new material from their new record Reunion.

"We wound up in Nashville recording and it was going so well that we just kept on recording," Rankin explains. "We dug some material out of the vault, some of John Morris's selections, a piano selection and a fiddle selection, and some other songs that were kicking around and we ended up with a 12-song record."

John Morris's 19-year-old daughter Molly also joins the tour singing, playing fiddle and step dancing.

"Molly started out learning traditional music from her dad. Then, I found out a few years ago that she was writing songs so she sings a song on our new record. It's just a new element. It's very fresh," he adds.

Jimmy is stumped when asked about their broad appeal and than responds, "It's soulful music that says something. I know from experience playing at festivals that people walk by the stage and their ears perk up and it's infectious."

Jimmy hasn't performed on stage with his sisters since the group disbanded. And, unfortunately the two Nanaimo shows were cancelled after their elder sister, 49-year-old Geraldine (Rankin) Coyne, died on Jan. 10 of a brain aneurysm in Calgary.

However, the family decided to continue the tour saying that music is as much a part of them as breathing and it unites and heals.

"Singing these songs again and having that kind of chemistry on stage again that you can't really create artificially. It's just there with the vocals and the energy on stage."

While some might like to see a more permanent reunion, Rankin assures that this is a one-time tour, no matter how much fans wish for more.

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Rankins make grand return

January 25, 2007 - Red Deer Advocate

By Penny Caster

The keening harmonies, the sometimes fairly rockin’ Celtic tunes and the fabulous fiddle segments were all there, at The Rankin Family concert Wednesday night.

The Cape Breton family, touring together for the first time since disbanding eight years ago, packed at least 2,500 enthusiastic fans into Red Deer’s Enmax Centrium for the show.

Jimmy Rankin led off the group’s set with Roving Gypsy Boy, one of his own tunes.

Then Cookie Rankin sang lead vocals on Borders and Time, and that was followed by Raylene singing her own song, Gillis Mountain.

And so went the evening.

The talented family took turns in the spotlight and the three sisters, Cookie, Raylene and Heather, demonstrated the harmonizing they do so very well.

The choice of tunes featured mostly old favourites with some from the new album and they were well-paced — the mood would get sombre with one song only to be lifted to the rafters by the next one.

The Rankin family was rocked seven years ago, shortly after the group broke up, when its anchor, John Morris Rankin, was killed in an auto accident.

Then, just before this reunion tour set out, an older sister, not a current group member, died suddenly.

Tribute was paid to the pair during the show when Raylene explained “no words can describe our sorrow,” and the family left the stage while pianist Mac Morin played a piece.

Other songs performed during the evening included The Fisherman’s Song, during which Raylene coaxed the more-than-willing audience to sing along to the “la la la la” part, Fare Thee Well, a rousing version of the traditional song, Tell My Ma, Rise Again, Mull River Shuffle, Orangedale Whistle, and Gone, a song from the new album.

There was a sense of the continuum of the musical heritage of Atlantic Canada with the appearance of two members of the up-and-coming generation.

One was Molly Rankin, John Morris’s daughter, who both sang and played the fiddle, and the other was Dawn Langstroth, who opened the show.

Langstroth plays guitar and sings a folk-pop blend of music and has a clear, strong and expressive voice.

Though raised in Ontario, she has serious Nova Scotia connections, she is Anne Murray’s daughter.

The Rankin Family were backed up by a talented band that included Cape Breton fiddler Howie MacDonald.

He and Molly Rankin paired up for a couple of demonstrations of fiddle virtuosity that had the crowd well revved up.

The Rankin Family set ended with a dazzling display of step dancing which was led off by Morin, who comes from a long line of step dancers and it shows.

This was an entertaining, well-paced show that obviously delighted the audience.

It was good to see the Rankin Family together again, though sadly without John Morris.

Let’s hope they don’t wait too long before returning.

Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff The Rankin Family perform at the Centrium on Wednesday night as part of their first tour in eight years. The Celtic band got the crowd of more than 2,500 involved during their energy-filled show.

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Rankins rise again

The show goes on - despite family tragedy

January 27, 2007 - Edmonton Sun

By Jenny Feniak, Edmonton Sun

The Rankins proved not only passionate but true professionals during a performance in Edmonton Thursday night.

Heavy, red velvet curtains framed the Jubilee Auditorium stage where Jimmy, Cookie, Raylene and Heather Rankin reunited in song - after almost a decade.

The Rankins' reunion performance was not only warm and wonderful, but an emotional occasion as the family banded together with the music that's defined their Maritime life, while mourning the loss of two siblings.

Nothing of this was mentioned immediately and The Rankins appeared positive, each offering a classic and familiar song to a crowd who knows and loves them.

Absent from the reunited group was their eldest brother and fiddler John Morris Rankin, who died in a car crash only a few months after the family called it quits in 1999.

Eventually, the other siblings left Raylene at the microphone to acknowledge the death of their sister Geraldine just days before the reunion tour kicked off.

"We're mourning the loss of both of them and no words can describe our sorrow,'' she said before leaving the stage as the lights dimmed.

With a five-piece band on stage, a beautiful piano instrumental picked up, paying homage to Geraldine's musical role in the Rankin Family's first incarnation in the '70s.

The siblings joined each other back on stage for another sombre number before renewing their upbeat spirit with the introduction of their newest member - Molly Rankin.

The 19-year-old appeared with a guitar and did Sunsets, her original contribution to the new album. The musical gene didn't miss her and as the new voice soared, her aunts and uncle beamed proudly from the shadows.

After her moment in the spotlight, Molly swapped her guitar for a fiddle, a talent handed down to her by her late father John Morris.

Raylene, Heather and Jimmy each sang songs from the Rankins' most successful album, Fare Thee Well Love, while Cookie introduced the crowd to their new album, Rankin Family Reunion, singing David Francey's rousing Sunday Morning.

Jimmy let the crowd know the album was not only being sold after the show, but they would be there to greet fans and sign autographs. With a bit of a chuckle, he continued with shameless self-promotion for his own solo album, Edge of Days, and played a very un-Celtic track called Slipping Away.

Even with the unquestionable grief the family was feeling, they have been professional musicians all their lives and showed it. The rest of the concert was full of life as Raylene jigged and the crowd clapped along.

They had an exceptional encore ready to go for the adoring crowd, which included Raylene's "companion song" and the unofficial Cape Breton anthem Rise Again.

The Rankins closed out with The Departing Song, an unrecorded number from the group's past that Jimmy reworked for all the voices and a perfect close.

The Rankins' stage presence and etiquette are absolutely polished and together they possess something magical none could produce alone.

Photo: Cookie, Raylene and Heather Rankin, left to right, perform during The Rankin Family concert at the Jubilee Auditorium Thursday night. (David Bloom/Sun)

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Rankin Family reunites for tour after hiatus

January 27, 2007 - Kitchener-Waterloo Record

By Robert Reid

It was not the return the Rankin Family had envisioned.

A few days before the anticipated launch of their national Reunion tour, their non-performing older sister, Geraldine, died of a brain aneurysm at her home in Calgary.

Her death came almost seven years to the date that John Morris Rankin died when his vehicle plunged over an embankment as he was taking his sons to a hockey game in Cape Breton. John Morris had anchored the group of siblings since they catapulted to success in the 1990s.

The current tour, which reunites songwriter Jimmy with Heather, Cookie and Raylene, was delayed a couple of days before opening in Victoria. Understandably, the family had heavy hearts when they took to the stage, together for the first time since 1999, a year after John Morris's death.

By the time they got to Calgary, however, their spirits began to lift.

"It's difficult being on the road," Raylene acknowledges over the phone. "It's difficult living out of hotels when all you want is to be at home."

Raylene agrees that, "being onstage helps. Being able to focus on the music and receiving warm responses from audiences have been a comfort."

When the Rankins disbanded in 1999 to spend more time with their individual families and interests, it seemed unlikely that they would ever reunite.

However, Calgary music promoter Jeff Parry had different ideas, and encouraged the four siblings to hit the road again.

He suggested it would be advantageous to have a new CD to promote during the tour, so Jimmy, Heather and Raylene joined Cookie in Nashville, where she lives with Grammy-winning producer George Massenburg, to record Reunion.

Initially, the idea was to release a compilation album, but it turned out to be much more.

"It grew quite organically," Raylene confirms.

Although John Morris is absent, a couple of tunes from his archives are on the album. His daughter Molly, who is touring with her uncle and aunts, also contributes a song.

In addition to the original material, the album includes covers of songs by David Francey and John Hiatt.

"It's nice to have some new material to keep us on our toes and to keep our sound fresh," Raylene offers. "We've never recorded songs by other songwriters, so that's quite exciting as well."

She adds, "The new material is working well with the older material in concert."

John Morris's fiddle and keyboards are gone, but Molly's fiddle continues her father's legacy. Also joining the tour is Dawn Langstroth.

"Molly and Dawn add a refreshing element of youth and energy," Raylene notes.

The vocal harmonies created by Heather, Cookie and Raylene defy time. However, Raylene suggests their maturity "comes into play with our comfort onstage.

"We're more comfortable in our own skins and we have an extra bit of confidence and self-assuredness. We're able to relax more than we did when we were younger."

She believes the hiatus has been positive for the group.

"We were on an intense ride before we went our separate ways. We never really plateaued, so there was a certain amount of exhaustion."

As good as it feels to be together again, Raylene can't speculate on how long the reunion will last beyond the 23-city, cross-country tour.

"We're concentrating on the tour and having really good shows, but we've learned never to say never."

It's not as if the Rankin Family doesn't have other things to do.

Heather, Cookie and Raylene bought the Red Shoe Pub, which Heather manages, in their home of Mabou, Cape Breton.

They will continue to get together for their annual Christmas concerts.

And Jimmy will release his latest studio album, Edge of Day, in April.

Meanwhile, Raylene concludes, "It's a total pleasure being onstage together again. It will be hard to end."

CONCERT
The Rankin Family with Dawn Langstroth
Centre in the Square
Monday, Feb. 5
8 p.m.
$60.75
519-578-1570, www.centre-square.com

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Rankin reunion hits right note

January 29, 2007 - Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

By Jeanette Stewart, The Star-Phoenix

While "some things stay and some things go" the Rankin Family proved Saturday they still possess the timeless talent that brought them success more than a decade ago.

As the siblings sang the lyrics to Jimmy Rankin's Orangedale Whistle, the audience was reminded of just how much has changed for the family.

In their first tour in eight years, the recurring themes of longing and loss written into their songs seem more relevant now than ever before.

Fans of the group are well aware of the death of brother John Morris in 2000. Sister Geraldine passed away suddenly earlier this month before the first scheduled tour stops in Nanaimo. Those shows were cancelled and the siblings picked up in Victoria.

The Rankin Family's stop in Saskatoon was greeted by a packed house and enthusiastic fans, but it took a few songs before they provided evidence of their former Celtic fire.

Mid-show, Raylene Rankin took the stage and spoke about their departed siblings. "There are no words to describe this sorrow," she said and left pianist Mac Morin to play a pretty ballad composed by John Morris.

After this sadness was addressed, it was time to have fun.

With her aunts watching proudly, Molly Rankin, the 19-year-old daughter of John Morris, came onstage to sing Sunsets, her contribution to the new Rankin Family album. Molly also displayed her talent on the fiddle alongside long-time band member Howie MacDonald.

The best moments happened when the old songs came out. Crisp and tight, the energy they brought to the stage made the live performance stronger than any recording of the group.

Each sibling took turns leading with vocals. Though both Cookie and Raylene's voices lapsed at times, their overall performance was magical.

It was Heather's voice, with its childish, innocent quality intact, that lifted the sisters' ethereal three-part harmonies.

The band really shone in the encore. Molly joined Heather and Raylene in an Irish step dance and proved that while the Irish dance craze has long faded, it still brings a crowd to its feet.

The four siblings possess a gift that should be shared with audiences. They are at their best together, and proved their skill as professional musicians that can bring an audience through perfectly timed emotional highs and lows.

Opening act Dawn Langstroth was a good fit for the show. The daughter of Canadian sweetheart Anne Murray, and a self-proclaimed "Maritimer at heart," Langstroth provided a mix of covers and new material that showcased her powerful folk-pop voice.

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Fans' support helps Rankins bear loss

January 30, 2007 - Winnipeg Sun

By David Schmeichel, Entertainment Reporter

If you've ever considered seeing cherished East Coast folk-group The Rankin Family in concert, now would be a good time to do it.

See, the singing siblings -- who went their separate ways in 1999 but announced plans for a reunion tour just two months ago -- have been weathering a family tragedy in recent weeks, following the sudden death of sister Geraldine of a brain aneurysm on Jan. 10.

Now,