After making waves with other Celtic-leaning East Coast musicians in the 1990s such as Natalie Mac- Master and Great Big Sea, Cape Breton group The Rankin Family decided to disband in 1999 after a hugely successful, decade-long run.

Now, following a widely acclaimed reunion jaunt in 2007, The Rankin Family -- Cookie, Heather, Raylene and Jimmy Ranking -- are back with a new studio album titled These Are The Moments.

Both Heather and Raylene say the new effort was a bit of a departure for the group.

"There are six new tunes on this recording that we're not previously recorded by us, and some of them were written by people outside of the group," Raylene says. "I think you can hear an evolution in the sound with this album. At the beginning it was kind of hard to envision that, but now that it's done it seems like it's totally where we should have gone with this."

"I agree with that too, Raylene," Heather adds. "Before, we always sat together and would hammer out the songs. With this record we all came together, got into the studio and started playing. We had a very small window of time to get it done."

While the album contains new remixes of signature songs Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again, the sisters say sorting through the new material to record was not an overly arduous process.

"We went through a bunch of material," Raylene says. "Often times we'd be doing that as we were driving to and from Cape Breton during the summer and in the spring. The one (song) that struck me when I heard it first, and it has carried on with this feeling, is Never Alone. That's the one that hits me in a certain spot every time I hear it."

But Heather also says having those two staples on the record seemed to serve two purposes: Being anchors for These Are The Moments, and also giving people a hopeful message in dealing with the current unnerving economic climate.

"When we decided to go with songs that were inspirational, Rise Again is one of those songs," she says. "It has a positive reaction and it's a song people respond to when they're going through hard times. If you look at the times we're living in right now, it's very fitting. I don't see how we could have not put it on."

"Did you just say a double negative?" Raylene quips. "I didn't notice that you didn't say a double negative."

Grammatical corrections aside, The Rankin Family are gearing up for a cross-Canada tour, which kicks off in Penticton, B. C., tomorrow, one day after releasing These Are The Moments.

The tour stops in Kelowna (Thursday), Richmond (Friday and Saturday), Kamloops (Sunday), Banff (Monday), Calgary (Feb. 11-12), Edmonton (Feb. 13), Regina (Feb. 14), Saskatoon (Feb. 15), Winnipeg (Feb. 16), Thunder Bay (Feb. 17), Sault Ste. Marie (Feb. 18), Orillia/Casino Rama (Feb. 20-21), London (Feb. 22), Kingston (Feb. 23), Ottawa (Feb. 24), Montreal (Feb. 25), Sydney (Feb. 27) and Halifax (Feb. 28).

Return of the Rankins

East Coasters back with new studio album

February 3, 2009 - North Bay Nugget

By Jason MacNeil / Sun Media

After making waves with other Celticleaning East Coast musicians in the 1990s such as Natalie MacMaster and Great Big Sea, Cape Breton group The Rankin Family decided to disband in 1999 after a hugely successful, decade-long run.

Now, following a widely acclaimed reunion jaunt in 2007, The Rankin Family -- Cookie, Heather, Raylene and Jimmy Rankin -- are back with a new studio album titled These Are The Moments.

Both Heather and Raylene say the new effort was a bit of a departure for the group.

There are six new tunes on this recording that we're not previously recorded by us, and some of them were written by people outside of the group," Raylene says. I think you can hear an evolution in the sound with this album. At the beginning it was kind of hard to envision that, but now that it's done it seems like it's totally where we should have gone with this."

I agree with that too, Raylene," Heather adds.

Before, we always sat together and would hammer out the songs. With this record we all came together, got into the studio and started playing. We had a very small window of time to get it done."

While the album contains new remixes of signature songs Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again, the sisters say sorting through the new material to record was not an overly arduous process.

We went through a bunch of material," Raylene says. Often times we'd be doing that as we were driving to and from Cape Breton during the summer and in the spring. The one (song) that struck me when I heard it first, and it has carried on with this feeling, is Never Alone. That's the one that hits me in a certain spot every time I hear it."

But Heather also says having those two staples on the record seemed to serve two purposes: Being anchors for These Are The Moments, and also giving people a hopeful message in dealing with the current unnerving economic climate.

When we decided to go with songs that were inspirational, Rise Again is one of those songs," she says. It has a positive reaction and it's a song people respond to when they're going through hard times. If you look at the times we're living in right now, it's very fitting. I don't see how we could have not put it on."

Did you just say a double negative?" Raylene quips. I didn't notice that you didn't say a double negative."

Grammatical corrections aside, The Rankin Family are gearing up for a cross-Canada tour, which kicks off in Penticton, B. C., Wednesday, one day after releasing These Are The Moments.

The tour stops in Kelowna (Thursday), Richmond (Friday and Saturday), Kamloops (Sunday), Banff (Monday), Calgary (Feb. 11-12), Edmonton (Feb. 13), Regina (Feb. 14), Saskatoon (Feb. 15), Winnipeg (Feb. 16), Thunder Bay (Feb. 17), Sault Ste. Marie (Feb. 18), Orillia's Casino Rama (Feb. 20-21), London (Feb. 22), Kingston (Feb. 23), Ottawa (Feb. 24), Montreal (Feb. 25), Sydney (Feb. 27) and Halifax (Feb. 28).

Heather and Raylene say the tour will feature a good portion of the new album, as well as older staples.

Sadly, The Rankin Family knows it's not the same and extremely bittersweet without John Morris Rankin performing with them. The highly talented instrumentalist and brother died in January 2000 in Cape Breton after his vehicle ran over a pile of road salt and plunged over a cliff.

Absolutely, it's a big void, not to mention the personal loss -- but creatively," Heather says.

One producer we once worked with said John Morris was the musical conscience," Raylene says. So with him not with us, we really have to pull up our socks and do our work. We always depended on him to crack the whip."

The Rankins return with brand new sound

February 3, 2009 - The Welland Tribune

By Jason MacNeil / Sun Media

After a hugely successful, decade-long run -making waves with other Celtic-leaning east coast musicians in the 1990s such as Natalie MacMaster and Great Big Sea -Cape Breton group The Rankin Family decided to disband in 1999.

Now, following a widely acclaimed reunion jaunt in 2007, The Rankin Family -Cookie, Heather, Raylene and Jimmy Ranking -are back with a new studio album titled These Are The Moments.

Both Heather and Raylene say the new effort was a bit of a departure for the group.

"There are six new tunes on this recording that we're not previously recorded by us, and some of them were written by people outside of the group," Raylene says.

"I think you can hear an evolution in the sound with this album. At the beginning it was kind of hard to envision that, but now that it's done it seems like it's totally where we should have gone with this."

"Before, we always sat together and would hammer out the songs," Heather adds.

"With this record we all came together, got into the studio and started playing. We had a very small window of time to get it done."

While the album contains new remixes of signature songs Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again, the sisters say sorting through the new material to record was not an overly arduous process.

"We went through a bunch of material. Often times we'd be doing that as we were driving to and from Cape Breton during the summer and in the spring," Raylene says.

"The one (song) that struck me when I heard it first, and it has carried on with this feeling, is Never Alone. That's the one that hits me in a certain spot every time I hear it."

But Heather also says having those two staples on the record seemed to serve two purposes: Being anchors for These Are The Moments, and also giving people a hopeful message in dealing with the current unnerving economic climate.

"When we decided to go with songs that were inspirational, Rise Again is one of those songs," she says.

"It has a positive reaction and it's a song people respond to when they're going through hard times. If you look at the times we're living in right now, it's very fitting. I don't see how we could have not put it on."

"Did you just say a double negative?" Raylene quips. "I didn't notice that you didn't say a double negative."

Grammatical corrections aside, The Rankin Family are gearing up for a cross-Canada tour, which kicks off in Penticton, B. C., tomorrow, one day after releasing These Are The Moments.

The tour stops in Kelowna (Thursday), Richmond (Friday and Saturday), Kamloops (Sunday), Banff (Monday), Calgary (Feb. 11 to 12), Edmonton (Feb. 13), Regina (Feb. 14), Saskatoon (Feb. 15), Winnipeg (Feb. 16), Thunder Bay (Feb. 17), Sault Ste. Marie (Feb. 18), Orillia/Casino Rama (Feb. 20 to 21), London (Feb. 22), Kingston (Feb. 23), Ottawa (Feb. 24), Montreal (Feb. 25), Sydney (Feb. 27) and Halifax (Feb. 28).

Heather and Raylene say the tour will feature a good portion of the new album, as well as older staples.

Sadly, The Rankin Family knows it's not the same and extremely bittersweet without John Morris Rankin performing with them. The highly talented instrumentalist and brother died in January 2000 in Cape Breton after his vehicle ran over a pile of road salt and plunged over a cliff.

"Absolutely, it's a big void, not to mention the personal loss, but creatively," Heather says.

"One producer we once worked with said John Morris was the musical conscience," Raylene says.

"So with him not with us, we really have to pull up our socks and do our work. We always depended on him to crack the whip."

Well what do you know...

February 3, 2009 - Winnipeg Sun

By Jason MacNeil

Growing up in the same region as those who have become famous can mean you know something about them that ends up surprising them.

So when asked if the Rankin Family is planning to do the song Boys Be Happy in concert, a song they used to do when they were members of the Cape Breton Summertime Review in the mid-'80s, Raylene Rankin seems just a little bit lost.

"You know," Heather Rankin says to her, before singing a few lines from the Gaelic number.

"Holy mackerel, you got the goods on us," Raylene adds. "You're like Brian Linehan."

Perhaps one thing that also slipped their minds was the fact that 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the band's self-titled debut album.

So has the Rankin Family considered reissuing the debut album with bonus tracks?

"Holy mackerel ...!" Raylene says. Oh my god! That's a good idea, we should've done that."

Magical moments

Rankin Family reunites for new CD, embarks on cross-Canada tour

February 4, 2009 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke / Entertainment Reporter

WHEN THE Rankin Family wrapped up its reunion tour in 2007, they knew they couldn’t let it go as a last hurrah.

It was Alberta concert promoter Jeff Parry who suggested that musical siblings Raylene, Jimmy, Cookie and Heather Rankin rejoin their voices in song for the first time since the 2000 death of brother John Morris Rankin, and the success of the nation-wide event left only one question in their minds: What next?

The answer turned out to be a new studio album — These Are the Moments, in stores today — and another tour which begins this week on the West Coast and wraps up with shows at Sydney’s Centre 200 on Friday, Feb. 27 and the Halifax Metro Centre on Saturday, Feb. 28.

"The whole thing was fun," says Jimmy Rankin of recreating that magic connection onstage with both his sisters and their listeners. "It turned out to just be a really long break. I don’t think we ever really intended to get back together, especially with John Morris gone, but it just happened and it happened really well.

"We went all across the country and people really came out and supported us. I think we were as surprised as anyone, because we hadn’t actively promoted ourselves as a group for something like eight years."

What they soon discovered was that it wasn’t just fans from a decade ago coming out to see the Rankins perform again, but also kids who had grown up listening to the records with their parents, who were now in their teens and early 20s and getting to see them for the first time.

"The whole thing happened pretty quickly, we were picking music in the summer before heading into the studio in the fall, and then we were on tour and filming a CTV special," says Rankin of the speed at which it all came into place.

"I enjoyed all of it, because I hadn’t sung most of those songs in almost a decade, and I hadn’t really sung with the girls in all that time either. It was great to be back out there doing that music with the band."

Since they initially called it a day in 1999, Jimmy Rankin has forged his own path as an acclaimed singer-songwriter, while his sisters have continued making music both individually and as a trio with their successful Christmas CD and concerts.

Playing favourite songs from over a decade ago is one thing, but to move forward as a group would mean fresh material and, without John Morris’s strong traditional Cape Breton influence, a new approach to what the Rankins can accomplish as recording artists.

"Like everything else that happens with the Rankins, it starts out as an idea, and turns into something larger and more time consuming," says Jimmy. "But last spring we were talking about doing a record that could be a kind of inspirational or optimistic thing that might be . . . I hate to use the word ‘commercial’ but more mainstream.

"In the past we pretty much stuck to a folk-pop kind of blend, but this was a more focused, more concerted effort. It was a lot of fun too to pick these songs, and a lot more competitive since we had an executive producer, Frank Davies, who brought these songs in and I was basically another songwriter fighting for his place. I really had to get my writing gloves on."

For example, the first single off These Are the Moments is the uplifting Breathe Dream Pray Love, sung by Heather and written by Nashville’s Victoria Shaw and Jim Brickman with Canadian Amy Sky.

For his part, Jimmy branched out collaboratively by writing Straight Into Love with Canadian country singer Patricia Conroy, and teaming up with Dean McTaggart (Amanda Marshall) and Lennie Gallant for Hopeville, which ended up being sung by Cookie and Raylene, respectively.

"I thought (Patricia and I) would write a country song together, and we wound up with this kind of power ballad/pop song. That was fun, and we’ve written a bunch since, but that one came along pretty fast," explains Jimmy.

"Dean and I started Hopeville, and then I called up Lennie to see what he could add, I thought he’d have some good ideas for that song. But it started with Dean, who had the title and a basic melody. Then Lennie and I spent a couple of days on it, and we gave it to Raylene to sing, and I think she just nails it."

Hopeville is a real highlight of These Are the Moments, drawn from both the shared experience of coming from small towns hit by hard times as well as travelling across nearly every acre of this country.

"Dean was driving through Ontario and passed a town called Hopeville, and that got him started," recalls Rankin. "And Lennie and I have played all over Canada, so it’s not just about small towns in the Maritimes, it’s about everywhere.

"You can go anywhere in North America and see how these little towns are disappearing through lack of industry and people moving elsewhere. At the same time, there’s a note of optimism in the song, especially here as we start to see people returning home from Fort MacMurray and places out west. They want to come home and they want to live here."

The Rankins will be passing through their share of Hopevilles as they make their way across Canada, starting tomorrow night in Penticton, B.C. and continuing on for 22 dates over 24 days.

"I was just looking at the dates, and there’s no time off in there!" exclaims Jimmy. "It’s pretty much straight through, but we told Jeff Parry to do whatever he had to do to make this tour work. ... I’ve driven across this country in every fashion, solo or with a band, in vans, trains, airplanes, every damned thing, so I’m used to it."

"If we were a band that had just one lead singer and there was a chance that person might get sick, it would be a bigger risk, but with four singers we can work around something like that if someone’s not feeling well. It’s only a month, in the grand scheme of things, and we’ll try to stay healthy."

WIN A CD:

To win one of five copies of The Rankin Family’s These Are the Moments CD, write your name, address, and daytime phone number on a piece of paper and mail it to: The Rankin Family CD Contest c/o The Chronicle Herald, P.O. Box 938, Halifax, NS B3J 3S5

Or drop off entries to: The Chronicle Herald, 2717 Joseph Howe Dr., Halifax, during regular business hours (Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m.-1 p.m.)

Or email: contest@herald.ca (with ""The Rankins"" in the subject line).

Contest deadline is 9 a.m., Monday, Feb. 9.

Winners will be announced in the Arts&Life section on Thursday, Feb. 12.

TICKET TALK

•Tickets for the Rankin Family at Centre 200 are $56.50 at the Centre 200 and Savoy Theatre box offices, toll free at 1-877-545-3330 or www.centre200.ca

•Tickets for the Halifax Metro Centre show are $56.50 at the Ticket Atlantic box office ( www.ticketatlantic.com or 451-1221) and participating Atlantic Superstore outlets.

•Prices include taxes and service charges, additional online purchase fees apply.

Album of the week - The Rankin Family

February 4, 2009 - Montreal Gazette

By Mike Regenstreif, Special to the Gazette

The Rankin Family

These Are the Moments

Longview Music/MapleMusic Recordings/Universal

Three star of of five

Back in their heyday – which was most of the 1990s – the five brothers and sisters of Nova Scotia’s Rankin Family did have something special going on with their fusion of traditional down home fiddle tunes, old folk songs and new material that blended strains of contemporary folk, country and pop.

Theirs was a distinctly regional sound that could have only come from Cape Breton Island. The essence of their music was in the fiddling of John Morris Rankin and the haunting sibling harmonies of Raylene, Heather, Cookie and Jimmy. The band broke up in 1999 and reunited in 2007. These Are The Moments includes six new songs and six more drawn from their early catalogue and Reunion TV special.

Those gorgeous vocal harmonies are still the drawing card on the CD’s new tunes. But they’re now making a more generic kind of pop music that could have come from almost anywhere. Sadly, John Morris died in a car crash in 2000 and the sound of his fiddle, anchored in centuries of traditional tunes, is sorely missed. It was that distinctly Cape Breton sound that made the Rankin Family special and there’s not much of it there in pleasant, easy-to-listen-to new songs like Breathe Dream Pray Love.

Things are better on the CD’s back half. The older tunes include remixed versions of Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again, the two most achingly beautiful songs they ever recorded. The lush harmonies on those two songs can still lift a listener to a higher plane.

The most infectious track is You Feel The Same Way Too,

an infectious Nashville-meets-Mabou romp from 1995 and the one song on the album where the fiddling, the front porch mandolin picking and quick vocal hand-offs remind us of how much fun the Rankin Family could be.

The biggest problem with this album is that in blending new and older material, the newer stuff pales in comparison. Knock half a point off the three-star rating for the first half of the album and add half a point to the second half.

Podworthy: Fare Thee Well Love

The Rankin Family performs Feb. 25 at Théâtre St. Denis, 1594 St. Denis St. Tickets cost $39.50 to $54.50. Call 514-790-1111 or order at www.ticketpro.ca.

Rankins are back

February 5, 2009 - St. Thomas Times-Journal

By Sun Media

After making waves with other Celtic-leaning East Coast musicians Natalie MacMaster and Great Big Sea during the 1990s, the Rankin Family decided to disband in 1999 after a hugely successful, decade-long run.

Now, following a widely acclaimed reunion jaunt in 2007, Cape Breton's Rankin Family -- Cookie, Heather, Raylene and Jimmy -- is back with a new studio album, These Are The Moments.

Both Heather and Raylene say the new effort was a bit of a departure for the group.

"There are six new tunes on this recording that were not previously recorded by us, and some of them were written by people outside of the group," Raylene says.

The Rankin Family kicks-off a cross-Canada tour in Penticton, B.C., today after releasing These Are The Moments. The tour stops in Kelowna (Thursday), Richmond (Friday and Saturday), Kamloops (Sunday), Banff (Monday), Calgary (Feb. 11-12), Edmonton (Feb. 13), Regina (Feb. 14), Saskatoon (Feb. 15), Winnipeg (Feb. 16), Thunder Bay (Feb. 17), Sault Ste. Marie (Feb. 18), Orillia/Casino Rama (Feb. 20-21), London (Feb. 22), Kingston (Feb. 23), Ottawa (Feb. 24), Montreal (Feb. 25), Sydney (Feb. 27) and Halifax (Feb. 28).

Heather and Raylene say the tour will feature a good portion of the new album, as well as older staples. Sadly, the Rankin Family knows it's not the same and extremely bittersweet without John Morris Rankin performing with them. The highly talented instrumentalist and brother died in January 2000 in Cape Breton after his vehicle collided with a pile of road salt and plunged over a cliff. "Absolutely, it's a big void, not to mention the personal loss, but creatively," Heather says.

These Are The Moments by The Rankin Family

February 5, 2009 - Metro News Canada

By Graham Rockingham

The Rankin Family
Album: These Are The Moments
Label: MapleMusic/Universal
Rating: ** 1/2

The Rankins are all grown up now and seeking an adult contemporary market.

Turning to songwriters like new age pianist Jim Brickman probably isn’t the way to go about it.

The synth and drum collisions in the lead single Breathe Dream Pray Love tend to enhance the frailty in Heather’s vocal delivery, unfairly rendering it to little more than a squeak. The Rankins’ strength lies in the Celtic innocence of their vocal harmonies and the power of Jimmy’s country-tinged songwriting.

The fact that they turned to outside songwriters on two of the six new tracks on this album demonstrates a lack of direction and perhaps, commitment.

Unfortunately, the best material on this 13-track CD are the remixes of older material. These Are The Moments is only really half an album, something to sell to the fans on tour.

Rankin Family Reunion

February 6, 2009 - Metro Canada

By Brian Towie

The Rankin Family knew all about the audacity of hope long before U.S. President Barack Obama came along.

The latest release from the Cape Breton-based family act, titled These Are The Moments, espouses weathering storms with optimism, pitting six new original tracks with the Juno and East Coast Music Award winners’ lilting Celtic approach (among them Hopeville and single Breathe Dream Pray Love) alongside remixed classics such as Fare Thee Well Love.  

The timeliness of the release was unintentional, say Raylene and Jimmy Rankin, adding plans for the disc were in the works long before 2009’s zeitgeist was associated with hope and change amidst tough times.

“We took inspiration from Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again and made an album that extended that,” says Raylene. “Songs that were about hope and living in the moment and not looking back with regret ... And oddly enough, we started working on this album a good while before all this worldly turmoil had come to the fore. I think this album is very timely.”

The family knows of what they speak. The Rankin Family’s successes have been accented by tragedy.

In early 2000, less than a year after the band members announced they would go their separate ways after a decade in the public eye, brother John Morris Rankin died in a car accident in Cape Breton.

After losing the band patriarch, the Rankins wouldn’t tour or record together until late 2006, when they released Reunion and successfully toured (One show saw the Rankins receive a standing ovation before playing a single note). But early 2007 brought another loss, when sister and group co-founder Geraldine, who had not been part of the regular lineup, died of a brain aneurysm.  

“It was awful at the time,” recalls Jimmy of his brother’s death. “You’d constantly be reminded of it in every newspaper you looked at. And it didn’t seem fair, because with the touring done, this was supposed to finally be the time John Morris had for his family. When you lose someone, it’s like you close a door that you can never walk through again.  But the support and condolences we got from the fans was overwhelming. They grieved with us. That really meant something.”

But brighter days bring new faces. John Morris’ daughter Molly will join the Rankin roster for selected dates on their current cross-country tour — the beginning, one might speculate, of a new generation of Rankins.

“We take it one day at a time. We don’t think that far ahead,” chuckles Jimmy. “But traditional Celtic music is thriving back where we’re from. There’s a surge of youth who have really embraced it. It’s stronger than ever.”

Best of the best

February 10, 2009 - Kamloops This Week

By Dale Barss

My list of “must-see” performers has decreased by three in the past 12 months.

Alice Cooper — everything I thought he’d be.

Ted Neeley — well heck, he’s Jesus Christ, so what can you say?

And now, the cream of the list, the Rankin Family in a Sunday show that had the audience on its feet more than once, turned the Interior Savings Centre into an East Coast dance hall and had virtually everyone clapping in time as the siblings shared vocals throughout.

It’s impossible to pick one moment that resonated above others; it could have been Heather Rankin singing Breathe Dream Pray Love, written by Victoria Shaw, Amy Sky and Jim Brickman — a song that is completely suited to her angelic soprano voice.

Competing for top honours would have to be Cookie’s rendition of Straight Into Love, co-written by brother Jimmy and country singer Patricia Conroy.

Then again, for the parents in the audience — and there were hundreds — it might have been when Jimmy took the spotlight to sing what he called “a children’s song,” My Only Wish.

He co-wrote it was Tom Wilson and Tawgs Sawyer to express the incredible feelings of love, fear, hopes and aspirations that swept over him when his child was born.

Those who prefer the Gaelic influences likely would pick Gellean Mo Run, sung in the ancient language and dedicated to the Rankins’ late brother John Morris, who chose the song for them.

Howie MacDonald’s fiddle playing transported everyone there to the East Coast for a prolonged solo.

A little later on, keyboardist Mac Morin showed his versatility, taking the spotlight from the siblings, performing an extended step dance as MacDonald fiddled — much to the delight of the rest of the backup band of Bruce Jocobs, Clarence Deveau and Brian Talbot.

But for the majority there, it likely came after Jimmy gave a pitch for World Vision, a charity with which he works.

As he dedicated the next song to the children who benefit from World Vision, the single spotlight beamed down, he took a deep breath and launched into one of the songs so deeply identified with the singing Cape Breton family, Fare Thee Well.

Accompanied by Cookie, the song brought a short flurry of applause and then the entire audience fell silent, mesmerized by Jimmy’s lyrics and music, his and Cookie’s voices and the emotions contained in what has become one of the group’s signature songs.

Their other “signature” song, Rise Again, was included on the set list, a testament to how it and Fare Thee Well — songs audiences continue to respond to — inspired the siblings to return to touring together for the first time in many years.

There were other songs from their new recording, These are the Moments, and from earlier recordings culminating in the encore performance of the Mull River Shuffle.

If you’ve never heard it, you have to listen to it sometime to understand just how much fun East Coast music — particularly sung by the Rankins — can be.

Due to an unusual occurrence at Interior Savings Centre, it appears the opening act, Destino, actually started on time because, arriving 20 minutes after the doors opened, I only heard two songs.

This “popera” group, which had its debut in Vancouver in 2006 and performed at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, had a strong, but brief set, of what they call pop with an opera flair.

The little bit I heard was amazing.

The applause they received from those who had heard the entire set was boisterous.

Photo: The Rankin Family, including Jimmy (above), played a perfect show on Sunday night at Interior Savings Centre. Rick Koch/KTW

Concert Review: The Rankin Family
Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary - February 11, 2009

February 12, 2009 - Calgary Sun

By Lisa Wilton - Sun Media

CALGARY - It's been less than two years since The Rankin Family reunited after calling it quits in 1999.

Since re-forming, the singing siblings from Mabou, Cape Breton, have put out two albums -- Rankin Family Reunion and the recently released These Are The Moments -- and toured across Canada to thrilled audiences.

The group returned to Calgary last night for the first of two shows at the Jubilee Auditorium. The four surviving members -- John Morris Rankin was killed in a car accident in Cape Breton in 2000 -- were greeted by more than 2,000 fans as they stepped onto the stage.

The Rankin Family, backed by a five-piece band, opened with the catchy hit single North Country from their platinum-selling 1993 album of the same name, and followed with an upbeat rendition of The River from 1995's Endless Seasons record.

The Rankins showed only the slightest bit of rust through the 90-minute set list.

The Rankin Family were at the height of their success in the early '90s when their singles Fare Thee Well Love, Rise Again and North Country helped set off a Celtic resurgence in Canada's music scene and garnered them 15 East Coast Music Awards and six Junos.

As the years progressed, the band softened the Celtic influence and moved toward a more pop and country sound. But it was the Celtic and East Coast-flavoured songs such as Rovin' Gypsy Boy, Mairi's Wedding and Fare Thee Well Love that received the best response.

The group paid tribute to their late brother John Morris by performing Parlour Medley, one of the last songs he wrote before the Rankins disbanded.

The second half of the song turned into a toe-tapping reel, at which point the three sisters left the stage for young dancers from Calgary's Irwin School of Irish Dancing.

Their energetic routine was one of the few times the audience got anywhere near rowdy.

Jimmy Rankin has enjoyed the most solo success, having released three award-winning CDs since the band's original split. But last night, the singer and guitarist was often overshadowed by the graceful harmonies of his sisters Cookie, Raylene and Heather. Still, he did manage to steal the spotlight a few times, including taking lead vocals on a touching track My Only Wish from the new CD.

Last night's Rankins show wasn't as lively as I'd hoped, but the group's well-crafted songs rang out clearly in the Jube and didn't disappoint loyal fans.

Opening the show was Canadian pop-opera act Destino. Tenors Joey Niceforo, Paul Ouellette and Calgarian Leon Leontaridis were accompanied by only a pianist and violin player, but their smooth, soaring vocals needed no propping up.

The trio showed professionalism when Leontaridis' mic went dead. Instead of stopping the song, Leontaridis simply projected as loudly as he could without the aid of electronic amplification.

The Rankin Family rises again

February 12, 2009 - Montreal Gazette

By Roger Levesque, Canwest News Service

Just a day before the start of The Rankin Family's latest tour, Jimmy Rankin finds a few quiet moments to reflect on how time flies.

It's been 20 years since the five siblings from Mabou, on Cape Breton, released a self-titled collection of mostly traditional songs on cassette tape.

"It's crazy when you think about it," says Jimmy, the singer, guitarist and youngest member of the family. "No one ever thought it would go this far."

Since 1989 there have been eight more albums and several collections -- with sales of more than 1.25 million units, enough music awards to fill a room, and more tours than they can remember.

Sadly, there was also the loss of their oldest sibling and the group's founder John Morris in 2000 to a car accident. A year earlier, the family had decided to take a hiatus -- and only started working together for the Reunion album and tour in 2007. Still, by sheer name recognition alone the four remaining Rankins -- Heather, Raylene, Cookie and Jimmy -- have to be Canada's first family of pop-folk.

Their latest record is These Are The Moments, released last week on MapleMusic Recordings. It features six new songs, including the first single "Breathe Dream Pray Love," four live tracks from the Reunion tour, and new versions of their earliest hits, "Fare Thee Well Love" and "Rise Again."

It's also an acknowledgment that their audience is growing with them.

"When we did that Reunion album and the tour a couple of years ago, there was a real question of whether anyone would show up, whether they remembered," says Rankin. "They did right across the country, and what we found was that there were kids there who had grown up hearing our songs through their parents, so we continue to have this multi-generational audience."

In keeping with their popular appeal, These Are The Moments has a pristine production quality to both the new and old songs, a pop-folk sound that sometimes feels a world away from the traditional tunes and kitchen party music they started with years ago. The Rankins had a team of expert ears including Juno-winning producer Steven MacKinnon and mixer Mike Fraser (Norah Jones, AC/DC) overseeing the project.

The family still remains close to their Cape Breton origins even if, for practical reasons, Jimmy, Heather and Raylene are now all based in Halifax. (Cookie and her husband live around Nashville, Tenn.)

"If you come to our show you'll still hear fiddle music," he says. "We're doing the new songs but there's still that other element of the traditional and I still feel a very close connection to our roots. That never leaves you. It's possible that we might make the next record totally traditional."

The Rankin Family's Canadian tour dates include Regina Feb. 14, Saskatoon Feb. 15, Winnipeg Feb. 16, Ottawa Feb. 24, Montreal Feb. 25.

Rankins rise again
'Pretty neat' being back on the road

February 12, 2009 - The StarPhoenix

By Cam Fuller

THE RANKIN FAMILY

In Concert

Sunday, 7 p.m.

TCU Place

Special guest: Destino

Tickets: $49.50 plus service charges

www.ticketmaster.ca, 938-7800

- - -

We interrupt this recession to bring you something nice.

"If people want to go away feeling positive they'll come out and see the show," says Heather Rankin.

The Rankin family pretty much defined nice when the humble musical siblings from Mabou, N.S., became famous in the 1990s. With songs like Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again, they became a crossover sensation, faring well with Celtic, country and adult contemporary fans while winning six Juno awards. The group's success was a surprise even to the Rankins. They thought it would take five years to quit their day jobs.

"We went from being an independent-recorded band, independently distributed out of the back of our cars, literally to being in a record company battle. There were two or three labels fighting for us. It was a nice position to be in," Heather recalls.

Yet, after six albums and various re-releases, the group famous for its harmonies was facing the dissonant reality of the music business: Too much travel, too many pressures.

"We'd been on a treadmill of making records and touring. If you look at the dates of our releases, there wasn't two years between recordings and so you make a record and you're on the road. I think we got a little disillusioned with not being able to control it a little bit better, so we decided to just go and do different things for awhile."

The group broke up in 1999, and they all sensed it would be permanent when their brother John Morris, described as the heart of the band, died in a car accident a few months later. Heather, for one, couldn't imagine doing music again.

After a few years, however, there was talk of a reunion, which led to the group's Reunion album and what was supposed to be a one-off tour.

"I guess we haven't looked back since then," says Heather.

It wasn't without some trepidation. Once you've been out of the limelight, returning is a greater risk than starting ever was. But Heather, who's joined on stage by sisters Raylene and Cookie and brother Jimmy -- touring with a band of five -- says the family was taken aback by the affection from fans. In fact, their recent Christmas special drew almost one million viewers.

Next up is a new album, These are the Moments. It joins new songs with a couple of huge fan favorites, remixes of Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again.

"They are more relevant today than when we first started singing them," Heather says. Rise Again, which speaks of one generation giving over to the next, particularly hits home.

"Some of our priorities have changed, some of us have children, most of us are looking at the second half of our lives and I think if you look globally what's happening economically and environmentally, it's a fearful time to be looking to our future for our children, and the song really speaks to it."

The Rankins are taking things one tour at a time but Heather sums up in one word -- "nice'' -- how it feels to get together with her family and sing again.

"It's not something you experience every day. It's pretty neat. It's a rush at times."

Rankins appeal to new set of fans

February 12, 2009 - Regina Leader Post

By Andrew Matte

THE RANKIN FAMILY

8 p.m. Saturday

Casino Regina Show Lounge

- - -

If you're a member of Eastern Canada's first family of music, there's plenty to be excited about.

The Rankins are enjoying their second life as a busy Canadian music act following the big decision to reunite in 2006 following a long absence. The brother and three sisters disbanded in 1999 to have families and perform separately. But they were lured back to the recording studio to make Reunion and tour by a suggestion from an old road manager that Canadians would be eager to hear their music again.

The success of the Reunion tour made it a no-brainer to record and tour again in 2009.

"I called my sisters to see how they felt. And it turns out that it was the right time," says Jimmy Rankin, on the phone from Banff, of the time before the Reunion tour.

Rankin acknowledges he and sisters Raylene, Cookie and Heather have a new generation of fans who are eager see them perform.

"We went back on the road with no idea how we'd be accepted. We didn't even know whether people would show up. But it turns out that people turned out in droves," Jimmy says. "We found that kids who had grown up listening to the music with their parents wanted to come out. The music, we found, had crossed over and carried on.

"It turns out that the timing was right and we did it again."

This tour, which was buoyed by a recent Canadian TV special on CBC and last week's release of new material on their new CD These Are The Moments, is reflective of the siblings' current view of the world. They went out of their way to create a contemporary CD and make songs that share a positive theme.

"We wanted to make an album that was more cohesive and more optimistic. Not that we weren't before, but we just wanted to make music that was more inspiring for people. So we spent a lot of time writing songs and listening to songs and picking the right ones for the record."

The optimistic mandate perhaps came from the families well-published experiences with death.

In 2007, Geraldine, the group's co-founder and older sister, died of a brain aneurysm. And in 2000, brother John Morris was killed when his car dropped into the ocean after he swerved to avoid a pile of salt on a Cape Breton highway.

John's daughter Molly had appeared with the Rankins on several dates during the Reunion tour.

Jimmy says he and his sisters were happy about taking advantage of their time off to have children and to work in the business as solo acts, but they're also taking a new delight in the current tour.

"I always loved playing with this group. In the old days, we'd be under pressure and we'd have timelines, but now it's different. We're going out on our own terms and people are turning out again.

"People I guess want to hear the songs again. And I think that when we get together, there is a certain magic that happens."

Reunited...and it feel so good
The Rankin Family high on new release, eager to soar on airwaves

February 13, 2009 - The Sault Star

By Jeffrey Ougler

Jimmy Rankin readily admits he and his siblings remain buoyant, thanks, in part, to the wave of Blue Nose musical magic that set sail in the late 1980s.

The Rankin Family, along with Sloan and the Barra MacNeils, were among a handful of Nova Scotia acts to achieve national and international acclaim, via hit singles, albums and videos. Some celebrated traditional Celtic melodies, while others -- especially Sloan -- sent eardrums bleeding with 1970s-style riff-based rock.

For the family act, despite disbanding for a spell in the late 1990s, demand for both Rankin recorded products and stage shows apparently cruises along.

"Well, we have a following from back in these days and, fortunately, people are still coming out in droves to see the band," Rankin said in a recent interview from his Halifax home.

"It was seven years that we didn't actively promote our music. . . . And it lived on. We were really surprised when we went out to tour again and, you know, people were coming out to the shows."

And still are.

The Cape Breton-born clan hit the road earlier this month (they touch down in Sault Ste. Marie Wednesday) in support of their latest offering, These Are The Moments, a collection of new takes on Rankin classics, including Fare Thee Well Love, and a new, lead-off single, Breathe (Dream Pray Love), which has secured country radio airplay and could prove fodder for a video.

"I think we are fortunate that in those days, back in the 1990s, when something was happening worldwide with music, we were on the crest of a wave that was, you know, Canadian music and rural roots music," Rankin said.

"So we garnered a good fan base and they've stayed loyal throughout the years. I think they're really happy to see us come back and make records."

Likewise, the multiple music industry award winners were tickled to return to the studio.

And not just for the artistic frills.

Rankin concedes he and siblings Cookie, Raylene and Heather consciously crafted a commercial endeavour this time around.

Yes, dusting the cobwebs off of, and adding verve to, old standards is satisfying.

But Jimmy Rankin and company, armed with six new songs, are determined to return to the top of adult contemporary radio, where, some 20 years ago, listeners

were introduced to the group's handsome harmonies.

"We wanted to make an album that was uplifting and that people could respond to, but also make something that was commercially viable . . . which we never really focused on in the past," he added.

Pragmatically, Rankin realizes there's little chance in these days of receding CD sales and increased downloading -- much of it illegal -- that These Are The Moments will move as many units as 1992's quadruple platinum Fare Thee Well Love.

Regardless, the Rankins tackled the project full-force, all the while realizing the band's bread is primarily buttered on the road.

"People are touring live more. . . . Everybody is out there," said the singer, songwriter

and guitarist.

"And so, I don't know what to expect (with These Are The Moments), what kind of volume it will sell. I know that numbers, percentages, are dropping every day.

"The arse has fallen out of it."

Perhaps the latest project,

as well as the 2007Reunion disc and tour, also served as a sort of therapy.

Less than a year after The Rankin Family announced it would no longer perform as a group in order to pursue independent interests and careers, brother and band member John Morris was killed in a motor-vehicle accident on Cape Breton. And just as the Reunion tour kicked off, older sister Geraldine died of an aneurysm.

"We were very intentionally trying to make a record that was inspiring and optimistic and, just because of the times we were going through, we wanted to make something that wasn't sad," Rankin remembers.

During the group's downtime, Rankin had not abandoned recording, releasing three solo albums boasting an "edgier" sound.

"A promoter called out of the blue one day and said, 'What do think about trying to get everybody together to do a reunion tour?' " said Rankin about the 2008 project. "It just so happened that everybody was in the right place at the right time (for Reunion).

"I don't think anybody anticipated doing anything. But when it happened, it went from being a tour, to releasing a record to doing a television special. And it all turned out to be a lot of fun.

"I mean, there were moments when we were thinking of John Morris, wishing he was there. . . . you know, you can never replace him."

Their late brother's influence is evident throughout These Are The Moments and the current tour.

The set list will dip into a broad spectrum of the Rankin repertoire, with some "new twists."

"A lot of (Rankin tunes) I hadn't listened to in a long, long time (before Reunion)," Rankin said. "My (solo) sound was a lot edgier, but not in a bad way. I think it was just a different direction."

And he doesn't dismiss treating current audiences to a taste of his own stuff.

"During the last tour, I did a song from my latest record, Edge of Day. It actually would be fun to get up and do a couple of those."

The return of the Rankin Family

February 14, 2009 - Kingston Whig-Standard

By Greg Burliuk, staff writer

The Rankin Family has been to many crossroads in their career. First they got together, then broke up and then reunited, even when its members never thought that would happen.

With a new CD, These Are The Moments, barely a week old, The Rankins perform on Feb. 23 at the K-Rock Centre.

That the Family was successful at all was a shock to them at first, says Jimmy Rankin, who has written many of the group's hits.

"That was a crossroads because most of us were just out of college and wondering what we would do," he says over the phone from Banff, AB.

"So we put out a cassette in 1989. It was just a cottage industry for us then. Then things snowballed for 10 years when we thought it would only be five.

"But by then, we thought it had run its course. We were tired and had accomplished most of our goals so we thought we should leave well enough alone."

That was crossroads number two. But then in 2000, John Morris Rankin, the keyboardist, family elder and musical spine of the group was killed in a car accident.

"After John Morris died, I thought, that was it. We'd never perform together again," says Rankin.

So the remaining four members -Jimmy and sisters Heather, Cookie, and Raylene - pursued other careers.

Jimmy had the highest musical profile, putting out three solo albums and touring regularly.

Then in 2007 he got a call from Alberta promoter Jeff Parry, with whom the family had worked with in the past.

"He called me up out of the blue and said he'd been driving around listening to our music and it was too good not to be heard in public," says Jimmy Rankin. "So I called everyone up and it turned out everyone was at a crossroads again.

"We had no idea if anyone would even come to our shows but they did and things went really well."

But how would the group replace John Morris? Rankin admits they were big shoes to fill.

"John Morris was such an integral part of things," he says. "He'd put the show together, he had perfect pitch and he could play a lot of different musical styles, plus he was a terrific arranger of traditional music.

"In the end, we found Mac Moran, who's also a Cape Bretoner. He plays with Natalie [MacMaster] and he fit the bill perfectly."

Things went so well with the first reunion tour, that the Rankins are now in the midst of a second one, and playing new songs to boot.

These Are The Moments has six new songs, plus re-masterings of seven older songs, among them Rankin signature tunes like Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again.

"The music business has changed so much," says Rankin. "We thought we'd select inspiring songs and focus on the vocals.

"We had no way of knowing there'd be an economic downturn but people have told us, these songs have been a comfort to them."

One song called Hopeville talks about a town that is down but not out, with lyrics like, "Here in Hopeville, there's no talk of giving up."

As for the older songs, "Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again are well known but some of the others are more obscure," says Rankin. "We talked about re-recording them but you can't re-capture that original magic. But re-mastering and rerecording them, we've brought them up to date."

Another optimistic ditty is called My Only Wish. Rankin co-wrote it with Tom Wilson (of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings) and Tawgs Salter. It's about wishing for a better future for your kids.

"We all have kids now, and we're at that stage of your life that when you're backstage the conversations you have are about your kids," says Rankin.

"We wanted the new songs to be more contemporary."

And does this mean the Rankin Family are back for good?

Jimmy Rankin is cautiously optimistic.

"I have a feeling it will continue," he says. "We have no plans for world domination and it's so enjoyable right now to get up every night and sing a bunch of great songs without having to worry about the business part of things." T

- - -

ESSENTIALS

Who: The Rankin Family, who stopped performing together in 1999, reunited in 2007 and are back touring again behind a new CD called These Are The Moments. Where:The K-Rock Centre, 1 Barrack St.

Tickets:$39.50 and $49.50, plus service charges.

When: Feb. 23 at 7:30 p. m. Details:Phone 1-877-554-8399 or go to www.k-rockcentre.com.

The Rankins haven't lost a step

February 17, 2009 - Winnipeg Free Press

By Gwenda Nemerofsky

Fiddling streamed from Centennial Concert Hall Monday night, but it wasn’t the Métis fiddling you’d expect to hear on Louis Riel Day — it was Cape Breton fiddling, because the Rankins are back.

On a whirlwind cross-Canada tour entitled These are the Moments (also the name of their recently released CD), Jimmy, Cookie, Heather and Raylene Rankin proved that they haven’t lost a step since they began making records and touring 20 years ago.

The sisters’ amazingly pure voices are as sparklingly clear as ever, and Jimmy’s bad boy personality continues to charm.

They opened with a rousing version of North Country, from the 1993 album of the same name. Heather’s girlish soprano warmed up the crowd while the terrific band — Howie MacDonald, fiddle; Mac Morin, keyboard and step dancing; Brian Talbot, drums; Clarence Deveau, guitar; and Bruce Jacobs, bass — got this favourite rocking.

The show was an ideal mix of the Rankins’ most beloved tunes and a selection of soon-to-be-classics from their latest CD. Case in point — the tuneful single Breathe Dream Pray Love, a stirring number showcasing the soaring purity of the sisters’ vocals.

Jimmy co-wrote Straight Into Love with Canadian Patricia Conroy. Leaving behind any hint of the Celtic — and with a decidedly country flavour, it was given a heartfelt rendering by Cookie and Jimmy.

Paying homage to the songs that brought them from Mabou, Cape Breton to world fame, they offered up signature tunes like Mairi’s Wedding and Roving Gypsy Boy from their first album, Movin’ On, and toe-tapper Parlour Medley, which showcased MacDonald’s impressive fiddling prowess.

No Rankin Family performance would be complete without Raylene singing the iconic Rise Again, a song that has almost become an anthem with its touching lyrics and impossibly high notes. No problem for Raylene, whose lovely, full instrument reached right up there with ease.

Jimmy got the crowd up on its feet for his 1995 hit You Feel the Same Way Too. He had us clapping, dancing and singing in a special extended version. The cheering and applause wouldn’t stop and we were rewarded with an encore: Mull River Shuffle.

Destino, the Vancouver-based tenor popera group of Leon Leontaridis, Paul Ouellette and Joey Niceforo, started the evening off. With their classically trained voices and a repertoire that included Nessun Dorma, O Sole Mio and Albinoni’s Adagio, it’s hard to see how they fit with the Rankin Family. Nevertheless, this trio has evident talent, and tends to play up their youthful charms. They released their debut CD, Forte, last summer.

Concert Review
The Rankin Family
Centennial Concert Hall
Feb. 16 Attendance: 1731
4 1/2 stars out of five

The Rankins Give the Sault Some Wonderful "Moments"

February 19, 2009 - SooNews

By Karen Johns

The Rankins played to a modest crowd of 1,500 appreciative Sault Ste. Marie fans last evening at the Essar Centre.

The group, consisting of members Jimmy, Raylene, Cookie and Heather, backed my excellent musicians performed a blend of old and new tunes from their latest CD, These are the Moments.

Since the time they released their first independent album in 1989, the group from Cape Breton has enjoyed success after success.

They have won 6 Juno Awards and three Country Music awards as well as 15 East Coast Music Awards.

The band has survived the untimely death of band member John Morris who was killed in a car accident in 2000. After his death , the Rankin Family took an eight year break before reforming in 2007 and releasing the album “Reunion” in 2008.

The band’s East Coast sound is pure and harmonious, backed by guitars, keyboards, fine fiddle playing and a drummer.

The lighting for the concert was beautiful .

Unfortunately the press is not allowed to take photos from the back of the Essar Centre, only up front for the first three songs.

At one point when they performed the song Nothing Like an Ocean , blue lights shone down on the audience in a rolling waves motion.

Heather Rankin singing the haunting ballad I Would( which she wrote she said , “one day when I was supposed to be doing housework”,) was one of the highlights of the show.
The voices of the Rankins are clear and haunting. The musicianship is inspiring.
In short, the Rankins gave a wonderful performance to those citizens of Sault Ste. Marie who were fortunate enough to attend.

The group is currently on a cross country tour which will end in Halifax, Nova Scotia on February 28.

Sault welcomes Rankin reunion

February 19, 2009 - SooToday

By Donna Hopper

Touring behind These are the Moments, their first release since the 2007 reunion, The Rankin Family performed to 1,500 welcoming Saultites at the Essar Centre last night.

The Cape Breton Island family has won 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, and has been writing, recording and performing for more than 20 years.

This current cross-Canada tour takes them through to the end of February, when they finish in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Further coverage of the Rankin Family at the Essar Centre, including a photo gallery, will be posted here this afternoon.

14 photos of The Rankin Family at the Essar Centre

February 19, 2009 - SooToday

By Donna Hopper

The road hasn't always been kind to Canadian East coasters The Rankin Family.

Following a successful and award-studded decade in the Canadian folk forefront, siblings John Morris, Raylene, Heather, Cookie and Jimmy disbanded in 1999 to pursue separate interests.

To the public, the breakup seemed irreversible after the tragic loss of John Morris in a car wreck in 2000.

Enlisting the talents of John's daughter, Molly Rankin, the Rankins reunited and set out on a cross-Canada tour to promote their release Reunion.

The tour was dedicated to older sister Geraldine, who died of an aneurism just days before the tour's start.

With These are the Moments freshly released, Cookie, Raylene, Heather and Jimmy Rankin paid a visit to the Sault's Essar Centre last night, where 1,500 polite but appreciative fans gathered to take in the soaring melodies and celestial harmonies that won the hearts of Canadians more than 20 years ago.

Opening with the popular and fitting North Country, the evening's set list also included Movin' On, I Would, Breath (Dream Pray Love), Fare Thee Well Love, Roving Gypsy Boy, Nothing Like an Ocean, Never Alone and Hopeville.

The spirited Mairi's Wedding, during which Mac Moran jumped from behind the keys to jig for the audience, was a definite highlight.

A bit more mellow than previous Essar Centre performances, the show was steeped in grace, dignity and something loyal Rankin Family fans can be proud of.

Photos below copyright Donna Hopper, SooToday

Rankin Family rises again

Cape Breton’s first family of Celtic music in Sydney Feb. 27

February 19, 2009 - Cape Breton Post

By Laura Jean Grant

SYDNEY — Blessed with a loyal fanbase, The Rankin Family is back on the road, driven by a continued demand for their music across the country.

“The tour is going great. We started in Penticton in British Columbia and we’re working our way east,” said Jimmy Rankin, who is currently on tour with his sisters in support of their new album, These Are the Moments. “It’s nice to be out with my sisters again and the old band. We’re singing a bunch of new material and the show is sounding great and it’s fun.”

One of Cape Breton’s most successful touring acts, The Rankin Family — siblings Jimmy, Heather, Cookie, Raylene and the late John Morris — climbed to fame throughout the 1990s before disbanding in 1999. They reunited to much fanfare two years ago when promoter Jeff Parry approached them with the idea of doing a national tour.

“The timing was right and after some discussion we put it back together, made a CD and went out on the road and it worked nicely,” recalled Rankin. “You know, we hadn’t actively promoted the music since we disbanded in 1999 so no one really knew what to expect at the time, whether people would actually show up to shows. It just so happened that thousands of people showed up right across the country and it was met with terrific response. Kids that grew up listening to the music through their parents were now in their teens and their 20s and they were coming out the shows, so I guess what I’m saying is that the music carried over. People hadn’t forgotten and they showed up.”

Given that success, it was tough for the four to turn down another opportunity to return to the stage this year.

“Jeff phoned me up out of the blue again and said ‘Do you guys want to do it again?” said Rankin. “So here we are.”

The group’s latest CD, These Are The Moments, was released earlier this month and Rankin said they aimed to make the 13-track album “optimistic and inspiring.” It features many new original songs, as well as remixed and remastered versions of Rise Again and Fare Thee Well Love.

“Those songs are classic Rankin songs,” he said. “I think they sound really well with all the new material.”

Rankin said he’s looking forward to bringing the show back to Cape Breton next week.

“Our music has translated right across this country. We get really great audiences right across the country. I think people respond the same way to the songs right across the country but coming home — it’s always really special to get to play in Cape Breton.”

Classical crossover musical group and recording artists Destino will be the opening act for the Rankin Family on Feb. 27 at Centre 200 in Sydney. Tickets to the show are $56.50 and are available online at www.reservatech.net, by phone at 1-877-545-3330 and 564-6668, or in person at the Centre 200 and Savoy Theatre box office locations.

Sure as the sunrise, Rankins rise with hope

Reunited siblings turn tragedy, troubling times into uplifting music

February 23, 2009 - Otawa Citizen

By Lynn Saxberg

Who: the Rankin Family

When and where: 8 p.m. Tuesday, National Arts Centre

Tickets: $59.50, plus surcharges, available at the NAC box office, and through Ticketmaster, 613-755-1111 or www.ticketmaster.ca.

- - -

Rise Again, one of the Rankins' best-known anthems from the early '90s, carries renewed significance for the family group from Cape Breton as they head into 2009 with a new album and tour.

"We rise again," their voices soar on the chorus of the song, "in the faces of our children."

You see, the three Rankin sisters, Heather, Cookie and Raylene, and their brother, Jimmy, are back in the business of music, once again putting their voices together to create magical harmonies. Their tour stops at the National Arts Centre on Tuesday.

Seems hard to believe, but it's been 20 years since the release of their first album. While they had a nice run of platinum sales and radio play, there was also adversity. Their brother, keyboardist and songwriter John Morris Rankin, was killed in a car accident in 2000, a few months after the band decided to take a break to raise families and follow separate pursuits. The break stretched well into the 2000s, with Jimmy focused on his solo career and his sisters operating a pub in their hometown of Mabou, N.S.

Life was relatively low-key until 2006, when they were encouraged by a Calgary promoter to embark on a reunion tour. In the middle of touring, their older sister Geraldine died suddenly of a brain aneuryism at her home in Calgary. Though the tragedy was unexpected, ultimately the tour went so well that they decided to keep going and even make a new record.

Out this month, the new CD, These Are The Moments, will give fans a sense of déjà vu. Among its collection of contemporary pop tunes are a couple of familiar melodies. One is a reworked version of Rise Again, along with another favourite from that era, Fare Thee Well Love. In an interview, Heather Rankin says they decided to revive those two songs because of the overwhelming response from fans along the reunion tour.

"It's amazing how after 20 years of singing those songs, they were still resonating with people," she says. "In fact they seemed to be even more pertinent, even more relevant when you did them all those years later."

They were tickled to realize they still had a fan base, and astounded to discover a whole new generation of fans in their early 20s filling up the seats. It seems the young 'uns remember the band -- and those songs -- from their childhood. Inspired by the audience reaction, the band members began to assemble songs that were similarly uplifting.

"It occurred to us, we are being constantly bombarded with negativity about our environment, about our economic situation so why don't we collect a number of songs that have an inspirational quality like those," Heather says.

With the help of industry veteran Frank Davies, executive producer of the disc, they wrote, co-wrote or selected songs in keeping with the theme. While some of the lyrics seem to lean towards a Christian perspective, Heather says that's not their purpose.

"I think if there's a spiritual sound, it comes from the traditional influence in our music that often has that spiritual resonance. If people want to interpret it that way, that's fine. We just want people to feel that there is hope and good things can come," Heather says.

As for the economic wisdom of reviving a music career in tough times, the siblings know it's not going to be easy, with CD sales down and gas prices up.

"The one thing I think we have going for us is we've always been strong live," Heather says. "People remember that, and hopefully people will come out to the shows, even though it's not the best time to be spending money."

Still, if you need to take your mind off your worries, a live concert will go a long way towards soothing the soul.

"I think you always want people to come and having a positive experience, and have them go away feeling uplifted," says Heather. "That's always been our intention when we first got together and that's no different now."

Rankins shine in homecoming concert

March 2, 2009 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke, Entertainment Reporter/Concert Review

Few groups get to the heart of what makes life on the East Coast so special like the Rankin Family.

Somehow their songs capture the feel of a place that’s practically mythical, a feeling driven home by harmonies honed over a lifetime.

That feeling was evident the moment they took the stage of the Halifax Metro Centre on Saturday night, with Heather Rankin’s clear, high voice extolling the wonders of the North Country.

What better way to kick off a homecoming bash with over 5,000 celebrants, marking the end of a countrywide tour?

The show wasn’t just about hosting a massive kitchen party, given the inspirational tone of the latest Rankins release, These Are the Moments. Cookie Rankin sang of overcoming metaphorical challenges in her self-penned The River, off 1998’s Uprooted, before lending her earthier tones to the new CD’s Never Alone, which achieves its goal of soothing without being schmaltzy.

"It’s cold up here. Let’s change that," Jimmy Rankin said before inviting fans to come up to the front of the stage for Nothing Like an Ocean, written with Gordie Sampson in his pre-Grammy days. Like North Country, the rolling melody captures that indescribable ache felt by those who don’t want to leave as well as those dying to come home.

The down-home flavour came across most strongly in a tribute to their late brother, John Morris Rankin, as sister Raylene recalled the childhood memory of him sitting enraptured at the feet of local fiddlers, drinking it all in as he grew up to become a uniquely gifted Cape Breton Celtic musician.

All three Rankin sisters joined in on some tuneful puirt a beul Gaelic mouth music, accompanied by Howie MacDonald, John Morris’s comrade-in-arms, on fiddle and keyboardist Mac Mor-in, also known for his exemplary work with Natalie MacMaster.

Later, MacDonald and Morin would get their own showcase in a roaring fiddle set that generated a strong crowd response of whoops and cheers, with Jimmy strumming along enthusiastically and the rhythm section of drummer Brian Talbot and Bruce Jacobs on bass bringing it home in a driving finish.

As you might expect, rousing Rankin favourites like Movin’ On and Roving Gypsy Boy went over big with the crowd, but newer material also fared well.

Raylene talked about "feeling a strong sense of community across Canada from B.C. to Nova Scotia" on this current tour as well as those in the past, leading into Hopeville, a gentle ode to small towns trying to survive, penned by Jimmy and Lennie Gallant.

Cookie got another chance to shine courtesy of her brother’s Straight Into Love, about giving into your heart without a moment’s thought, a sentiment she had no trouble selling.

On the other hand, when it came to selling those famous high notes in Leon Dubinsky’s Cape Breton anthem Rise Again, Raylene didn’t hit them out of the park as in years past, but her depth of feeling for its message of traditions passing from one generation to another remains strong as ever.

That fusion of traditions really came to a head in the encore of Mull River Shuffle, the Rankins’ equivalent of Stairway to Heaven, with the audience going bananas from the instant Jimmy starts in with his description of a Mabou Saturday night.

Eventually, it builds to a Celtic meltdown, with guitarist Clarence Deveau playing screaming leads as MacDonald and Morin threaten to set the stage on fire with the friction of their fingers.

When it comes to fusing traditions, the concept of "popera" is about as appealing to me as, say, "baroque and roll."

Opening act Vancouver male vocal trio Destino calls its combination of classical and contemporary "popera with a soul infusion" and I was grateful for the fact that Paul Ouellette, Leon Leontaridis, and Joey Niceforo don’t approach the bombast of Simon Cowell-creation Il Divo.

Accompanied by piano and violin, the well-trained threesome was relaxed and casual on stage, letting their expressive voices do the work, although with a mix of adult contemporary ballads and O Sole Mio, it’s high art compressed for the middle of the road.

Bringin' It Home Series concludes with Bruce Guthro concert at Shannon Studio

June 10, 2009 - Inverness Oran
By John Gillis

The Bringin it Home Series of singer/songwriter concerts will conclude for the season on June 14th at the Shannon Studio at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.

This series featured some of Nova Scotia's finest recording and performing artists since it began back in March.

Last Saturday evening Jimmy Rankin drew a standing ovation for his outstanding ninety-minute performance. Rankin thrilled the sold-out room with an energetic and intimate show of some of his favourite hits as well as many of her lesser-known gems from his three solo CD’s along with the occasional favourite from his recordings with the Rankin Family. Rankin was accompanied superbly on guitar and banjo by Jamie Robinson, who is much in demand for his playing both live and in the studio.

Mabou singer/songwriter Aaron MacDonald opened the show with a very capable half-hour set of original material, much of it from his recent CD, John Prine’s Advice.

Troubadour, storyteller, fan favourite at the Shannon Studio and Runrig lead singer Bruce Guthro will be returning June 14^th, bringing his live performance that is both engaging and personal as the man himself.

Tickets for Bruce Guthro’s June 14^th performance at the Shannon Studio (if not already sold out) may still be available at the Civic Centre box office, or by calling 625-2591. The series was sponsored and presented by 101.5 The Hawk, and supported by the Reporter and Maritime Inns.

Nova Scotian Musicians tour U.K. this summer

June 24, 2009 - Inverness Oran

Nova Scotia is bringing the sights and sounds of the province's culture to the United Kingdom this summer by teaming up with the popular Jools Holland outdoor picnic concert series.

Talented Nova Scotian musicians Jimmy Rankin, David Myles and Meaghan Smith will perform in a series of pre-shows before the main Jools Holland performances from June 20th to August 8th. Concert-goers will get an unexpected musical treat and have the opportunity to learn about what Nova Scotia has to offer, as well as a chance to win a vacation for two to Nova Scotia.

"Nova Scotia is delighted to be part of the extremely popular Jools Holland outdoor concert series. The U.K. is an important growth market for us, and this concert series will give us the opportunity to showcase our rich and vibrant culture and entice people to visit," said John Somers, executive director of tourism for the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.

The U.K. is Nova Scotia's largest European market. Although visitors from the U.K. account for less than two per cent of all visitors, it shows potential for growth. Visitors from the U.K. typically stay longer and spend more. European visitors contribute eight per cent of the province's total tourism revenues.

Participation in the Jools Holland concert series builds on the province's marketing efforts in the U.K. In addition to the concert series, Nova Scotia continues to work with the Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership to promote the Atlantic Canada brand in Europe. Nova Scotia tourism representatives in Europe also work to promote Nova Scotia to travel trade, journalists and airlines through sales calls, destination training and other activities.

For more information on the concert series and the artists involved visit www.novascotia.com/jools