Raylene, Cookie and Heather Rankin comprised the gloriously sweet and lilting Celtic harmonies and stirring lead vocal work on albums by The Rankin Family throughout the 1990s.

Alongside brothers Jimmy and the late John Morris, The Rankin Family were at the forefront of the East Coast, Celtic-inspired music explosion that swept like a tsunami across Canada, bringing along in its wake the likes of Natalie MacMaster, Rita McNeil, Great Big Sea and Ashley MacIssac.

Even though the band took a hiatus in 1998, none of the Rankins stopped working and creating. For the past few holiday seasons, the trio of sisters has toured the nation with their mix of traditional, choral, and contemporary Christmas tunes, all arranged and presented with a distinctive Maritime flair.

The show hits the stage at the Gryphon Theatre on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s Christmas music, seasonal music. I shouldn’t say just Christmas because it covers a broader spectrum than that, in that there’s some traditional music, there’s some sacred music, meaning music that would be sung in a religious context. But there’s also just seasonal music ­ fun, up-tempo, jazzy tunes. And this year we’ve incorporated an English carol … so we’re all over the map with the type of music that we play,” explained Raylene Rankin from her home in Halifax.

The sisters got the ball rolling way back in 1996, while the Rankin Family was still a going concern, by putting out a Christmas album, Do You Hear: Christmas with Heather, Cookie and Raylene Rankin, that led to a series of dates playing alongside regional symphony orchestras across Canada, and then, five years ago, to its current configuration as a proper band, along with the usual array of Celtic multi-instrumentalists, including Wendy MacIsaac, and first cousin Mairi Rankin.

“It really changed things up a little bit. I think it pushes it more towards the traditional Cape Breton music,” she said.

Music and unique traditions are the cultural centerpieces of small communities like Mabou on Cape Breton Island, from which the Rankin clan hails.

Christmas was a time steeped heavily in both tradition and music for Rankin and her 11 siblings (two have died, John Morris in a car crash in 2000, and Geraldine in January after suffering an aneurism).

“The good memories I have of Christmas are happy memories, and it wasn’t necessarily about the presents that you got. It was about the whole experience living in a small community during that season,” she said.

“You’d be involved with choirs, Christmas caroling, and there’s the food element, which is huge for all of us … then there’s the visiting. These are traditions that you don’t really find in a city. And we carry that with us. It’s very much a part of the musical tradition, or the musical tradition is very much a part of our Christmas experience as well.”

‘Visiting’ happened throughout the year, hence the notion of the kitchen party, where people just dropped by, instrument in hand. But it peaked during special celebrations such as Christmas.

“I think the bigger the community gets, the more you lose that aspect. Because communities are our families. And that was part of the richness of our experience growing up, is that we grew up in a small community. Everybody knew everybody else, so visiting was a big thing, and some of that visiting would have been family, some of it would have been people that you knew, characters from the community dropping in,” Rankin explained.

“So it goes a little but further than just family. It was a time where people would take a little bit of a break from the everyday grind and take time to play a tune, and tell a story, and have a little drink and a bite of food.”

The death of sister Geraldine in January ­ the same month nearly to the day seven years after John Morris died ­ means that Christmas in the various Rankin family homes will be a little more sedate than in past years.

“Well, it’s still pretty raw. And I think it wasn’t even as hard for us as it was for her kids and her husband. I know it isn’t. When John Morris passed away, it was like a break in the chain. And then when Geraldine passed away, that’s another founding member of this group as well. It’s just unbelievable still,” she said. “So I think that this Christmas is a more reflective time for us than previous Christmases.”

The Rankin Family was just about to embark on a reunion tour when Geraldine died, but the band decided to soldier on, and the road only a couple of days after the funeral. Being together with Cookie, Heather, Jimmy and John Morris’ 19-year-old daughter Molly helped ease the sting of grief.

“I really didn’t know how we were going to get through the tour so soon after Geraldine passed away, and as suddenly as she had passed away. It really hadn’t registered by the time we got on the road, but as soon as we got on that stage, it just came together and I really believe that that’s part of the therapy that people refer to. It’s a way to keep moving, doing what you do, and celebrating,” she said, adding that when a tragedy like this hits a family, often people disperse into their own lonely grieving processes. Being on the road with family was crucial them all in staying strong for one another.

The reunion was a hit with fans across the country, which had not seen the Rankin Family as a performing family for a decade.

It may or may not be the last time they all get together, but it won’t be the last time music fans will see Rankins out and about performing. The three sisters continue their Christmas tradition, Raylene has done some solo work, including a CD in 2003, and Jimmy is one of the most in-demand singer-songwriters on Canada’s east coast.

“As we grow older, (reunion concerts) are really nice ways to come together. Especially this Christmas tour, because there’s something about going to a Christmas concert; you know that people want to be there, and they want to experience a bit of the seasonal cheer. And you can help them with that. It’s a lot of fun. It’s fun, and we get much more back from the audience that I think we give.”

For more information on A Maritime Christmas 2007 with The Rankin Sisters, or to order tickets, visit www.gryphontheatre.com, or call the box office at 728-4623.

“This time around I’m going to be doing something a little bit different than I’ve ever done before,” said the singer-songwriter in a telephone interview with the Cape Breton Post, before hitting the road. “I’m taking a great Cape Breton musician with me, Dave McKeough, and we’re going to go and play my songs somewhat acoustically on stage. It’s going to be an intimate night with Jimmy and his songs. I’m very excited about it.”

The Mabou native begins a two-week tour of the Maritimes Saturday with a performance at the SAERC Auditorium in Port Hawkesbury and will head back to the island toward the end of the month with a hometown show Nov. 26 at Strathspey Place in Mabou, and a stop at Glace Bay’s Savoy Theatre, Nov. 30 to conclude the tour.

“Thirteen shows in 14 days. It’s pretty intense. The good thing is it’s the Maritimes and the drives aren’t that long,” he said.

A veteran performer, having toured for years with his siblings as part of the renowned Rankin Family and in more recent years as a solo act, Rankin said he’s never taken the acoustic approach with an entire tour before but has wanted to for some time.

He noted it will be just him and McKeough, a multi-instrumentalist, on stage.

“What I’m really looking forward to is just having my show a bit more relaxed. I don’t know if I’ll have a set list and if people want to holler out requests I’ll try to oblige,” he said. “I’ll be playing songs from my new record (Edge of Day) and of course I’ll be doing songs from both my other solo records (Song Dog and Handmade). I usually put in a few Rankin songs.”

Edge of Day, hit store shelves earlier this year and Rankin said response to his latest effort has been really positive.

“Every record I do is not like the last one I’ve done,” he said. “Generally I think I garner new fans every record I make because they’re a bit different. They always appeal to my old fans and some new fans.”

Rankin — who resides in Halifax with his wife Mia and two children, Chloe and James — said he’s looking forward to his three concert stops in Cape Breton.

“I know a lot of faces in the audience so it’s nice to come home to that,” he said.

Tickets for Saturday’s performance at SAERC can be purchased at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre box office or by calling 625-2591. Tickets for the Strathspey Place show may be booked by phoning 945-5300 or stopping by their box office. To reserve a seat at the Savoy visit the theatre box office or Centre 200 in Sydney, call 564-6668, or book online at www.savoytheatre.com.

That’s why he decided to leave his band at home when he headed out for his current round of Maritime concerts.

“It’s a different kind of tour for me. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while. Instead of traveling with a group, I’m going out very stripped down — just me and my guitar player,” says the award-winning songwriter who will perform with special guest Nathan Wiley at the Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre in Summerside on Sunday, Nov. 18, and at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown on Monday, Nov. 19.

“It’s going to be an intimate night with Jimmy and his songs,” said Rankin, during a recent telephone interview.

This acoustic approach will allow audience members to soak up the words and music on his new album. Produced by Colin Linden, Edge of Day’s 13 tracks chronicle Rankin’s life since the release of his sophomore album, Handmade, in 2003. It includes the single, Slipping Away, and the fiddle-driven Got to Leave Louisiana.

It’s a strategy that works well for him.

“When I think about it, that’s the way I like to write songs. Instead of a band, usually I’m sitting in my kitchen or my hotel room with my guitar. I’m alone with my thoughts and my notepad,” says Rankin, a Cape Breton native who achieved fame as lead vocalist and chief songwriter for the Rankin Family.

When the family went their separate ways several years ago, he became a solo act and has toured extensively in the United States and Canada.

Over the past several years, he has had plenty of time to hone his songwriting craft. For example, the description of lightning striking the coast is so compelling in the words to Stranded that you can almost smell the salt air.

Throw into the mix his storytelling prowess, and his concerts turn magical.

“That song was inspired by one of our summer visits to Cape Breton,” says Rankin, who lives in Halifax.

“Someone had just told me a story about being out on the sea and then the storm started, so I wrote the song, just looking out at the Northumberland Strait.

“From where I was standing, you could actually watch the storm coming in across the ocean. We stay in a house down there that’s very close to the sea, so the storm passed right over us,” says Rankin.

This intimate approach to concerts also appeals to Wiley.

“It’s like listening to the songs with all the clothes off,” says the Summerside native, who won album of the year for his CD, The City Destroyed Me, at the Music P.E.I. awards gala last weekend.

Wiley, who has spent the last decade following Rankin’s music, is happy to open for him.

“Our music is similar and different enough that I think it’s a good combination,” says Wiley, whose single, North American Dream, has been turned into a video now in regular rotation on Much More Music.

With so many songs on his CD to choose from, his all-time favourite is the semi-autobiographical song, The City Destroyed Me.

“I moved to Vancouver when I was 20, with no plans, just to get off the Island and try something different. While it wasn’t entirely a negative experience, it was a bit too much for me and the song reflects that. I find cities a little overwhelming. There’s so much going on and that tends to wear me out,” says Wiley, who plans to return to Summerside after the tour is over to write songs throughout the winter.

“Then after that, we’ll see what’s next,” he says.

At a glance
Who: Jimmy Rankin with special guest Nathan Wiley.
Where: Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre in Summerside on Sunday, Nov. 18;
Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown on Monday, Nov. 19.
When: Both concerts begin at 8 p.m.
For tickets: Call the theatre box offices.

Upcoming dates (tour concludes Nov. 30):
Nov. 20 - Truro, CEC Theatre.
Nov. 21 - Saint John, Imperial Theatre.
Nov. 22 - Liverpool, Astor Theatre.
Nov. 23 - Halifax - Rebecca Cohn Auditorium.
Nov. 24 - Moncton, Capitol Theatre.
Nov. 26 - Mabou, Strathspey Place.
Other dates continue to Nov. 30.
Websites: www.jimmyrankin.com, www.nathanwiley.com.

Just Jimmy and his guitar

Rankin goes acoustic for latest tour

November 21, 2007 - Halifax Daily News
By Dean Lisk