July 20, 2010 - The Linsday Post
LINDSAY-More information on what will be offered
during Victoria Country Historical Society's Honouring the Past event
this Saturday has been released.
Residents are encouraged to come to Victoria Park Armoury and Victoria
Park for the celebra- tion of the area's unique and diversified past,
aboriginal times, early settlement to Victoria County days and the
present.
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be a number of exhibits from arts
and cultural societies, muse- ums and local community groups.
Admission is free, and all are welcome, so come and get to know your
community a little better. The Ontario Early Years Centre will provide
children's activities in the park.
Outside, Gerard Sagassige from Curve Lake First Nation will open to
entertainment in the park with indigenous drumming at 11 a.m. at the
Frank Banks gazebo.
Later, at 1:30 p.m., Al Matthews will perform his mix of roots, blues
and swing.
The feature artist, Canadian music icon Jimmy Rankin, takes stage
in the gazebo at 2 p.m. Organizers said Rankin will bring his unique
telling of the Canadian story.
During the evening, "Honouring the Past" will take a different turn,
as it celebrates history with a gala big band dinner and dance.
It will begin with a dinner of angus sirloin medallions and poached
salmon by Hobart's Steakhouse, followed with entertainment by the
"King of Swing" big band show featuring the Galaxy All-Star Orchestra
with Ian Justsun and Robin Lea.
Social time starts at 6 p.m. with dinner served at 6:30. Starting 8
p.m., there will be a big band jazz orchestra.
The age of majority event includes a cash bar, a silent auction and
50/50 draw. Proceeds from this event will support the opening of the
Olde Jail Museum.
Tickets for the evening's activities are $60 per person and can be
purchased at the Kent Florist, A Buy and Sell Shop, Bell World, the
Lindsay Chamber and District Chamber of Commerce, and the Victoria
County Historical Society.
Call 324-3404 for more information.
August 18, 2010 - Truro Daily News
TRURO - The Rankin family returns to the Truro
stage this fall.
The Rankin Family Acoustic Tour - Up Close and
Personal is travelling to intimate venues across Eastern Canada. The
well-known music family from Cape Breton will perform at the Cobequid
Educational Centre Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Reworking their new and time-honoured Celtic and
pop hits, Raylene, Jimmy, Cookie and Heather will be joined by the
talented up-and-coming artist Michael Bernard Fitzgerald. Hailing from
Calgary, Fitzgerald has not only won the hearts of fans locally, but
has started to gain recognition on a national scale. Compared to the
likes of Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz, Fitzgerald's "The MBF Love LP"
was released in 2009.
The show is hosted by the Marigold Cultural Centre.
Tickets for the Truro show are first available to Marigold members,
until Aug. 27. Remaining tickets will then go on sale for the general
public at a cost of $55.
August 25, 2010 - Halifax Herald
The Rankin Family returns to Nova Scotia with the
Acoustic Tour — Up Close and Personal, in November.
Joining the tour is up-and-coming artist Michael Bernard Fitzgerald of
Calgary.
The Rankin Family performs Nov. 1, 2 and 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rebecca
Cohn Auditorium in Halifax, Nov. 5 at the Membertou Trade and
Convention Centre, Nov. 6 at the Cobequid Educational Centre
Auditorium in Truro and on Nov. 12 at Strathspey Place in Mabou.
September 10, 2010 - Prince George Free Press
Fresh off the first Rankin family reunion tour in
January and February 2007, the sweet, angelic, Celtic-influenced
voices of Raylene, Heather and Cookie Rankin are back together and
looking forward to another Maritime Christmas tour.
They will be playing Vanier Hall in Prince George December 14.
The Rankin Sisters kick off the Christmas holidays with a soiree of
yuletide cheer. Filled with the sisters’ trademark Celtic-influenced
vocals, this concert tour draws from their delightful Christmas album,
Do You Hear. Recorded during a Rankin Family band hiatus in 1997, the
sisters seized the opportunity to create an album to express their
love of the holiday season.
“Some of the album’s tunes come from our past, some tunes come from
personal experiences of Christmas, some are more religious, some
aren’t. They are vignettes of different aspects of Christmas,” said
Raylene.
Formed in 1989, The Rankin Family band (including brothers Jimmy and
the late John Morris) retired in 1999, following a stellar musical
career. They have sold more than two million records, won five Juno
Awards, over a dozen East Coast Music Awards and two Canadian Country
Music Awards. For many fans, the most memorable aspect of a Rankin
Family live performance was the exquisite three-part harmonies of the
sisters.
“It’s a tremendous feeling when I get together with Raylene and
Cookie, singing,” Heather said. “It’s like an amazing blend that you
don’t often experience singing in other formations. Just the familial
connection is a very special feeling.”
Currently residing in Halifax, Raylene has been involved in various
musical endeavours, including symphony performances across Canada and
some festival appearances, such as Mabou’s Ceilidh and Festival D’ete.
Also living in Nova Scotia, Heather has been running and operating The
Red Shoe pub in Mabou that the three sisters purchased in 2005. She
made her acting debut in 1997, in the critically acclaimed film, The
Hanging Garden. She also appeared in Neptune Theatre’s production of
“Jesus Christ Superstar” and The Necessary Angel Theatre’s musical
“The Piper”, in Toronto. Cookie, married to Nashville studio legend
George Massenburg (who produced the Rankin’s Uprooted album), now
makes Nashville, Tennessee her home base. She has been involved in
numerous musical projects, a significant one being on her brother
Jimmy’s solo debut album, Song Dog.
This Christmas tour reunites the sisters as they set out to celebrate
the dearest of their family’s holiday memories. In fact, the myriad of
songs hand-picked for Do You Hear, are like the pages of a family
scrapbook, each conjuring its own set of memories. Angels We Have
Heard on High with its luscious harmonies and Oh Night of Joy and
Gladness, sung a cappella, are both tunes which the sisters performed
in Mabou’s local church choir as children. Raylene, whose angelic
voice succinctly captures the song’s blend of passion and solemnity,
faithfully performs the traditional prayer Ave Maria. The Coventry
Carol is beautifully rendered with Heather’s lead vocal finesse and
emotional honesty. In concert, it is often an audience favourite.
Cookie’s up-tempo treatment of I Wonder as I Wander and the sisters’
playful rendition of Let it Snow, showcase the more festive aspects of
the holiday season.
Joining Raylene, Heather and Cookie on this Christmas tour are some of
the Maritime’s most talented musicians and their long time friends.
The Rankin Family’s drummer and percussionist Scott Ferguson re-joins
the sisters, along with pianist Michael Creber, guitarist Clarence
Deveau, bassist Bruce Jacobs and cousin Mairi Rankin on the fiddle.
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.
October 13, 2010 - Truro Daily News
TRURO - The Rankin family will perform in Truro as
part of their Up Close and Personal Tour.
The Cape Breton-based family will be touring from
Charlottetown to Kitchener from Oct. 30 to Nov. 26. The Truro show, to
be held at Cobequid Educational Centre, will take place Nov. 6 at 7:30
p.m.
Described as a down-home kitchen party, the Rankins
will bring their new and time-honoured hits. Raylene, Jimmy, Cookie
and Heather will also provide the audience with a closer look at the
family as they share the stories behind their greatest hits.
Tickets for the show are $55 and can be purchased
from the Marigold Cultural Centre box office, online at
marigoldcentre.ca, and MacQuarries Pharmasave.
October 16, 2010 - Telegraph-Journal
The Rankin Family Acoustic Tour Up-Close and
Personal comes to New Brunswick this fall. This tour follows the
success of their album These Are The Moments.
They play Nov. 7 at The Fredericton Playhouse (tickets, $59.50, are
available at www.theplayhouse.nb.ca), Nov. 9-10 at the Imperial
Theatre in Saint John (tickets, $47, are available at
www.imperialtheatre.nb.ca), and Nov. 13-14 at Moncton's Capitol
Theatre (tickets, $45.50, are available at www.capitol.nb.ca).
October 20, 2010 - Peterborough Examiner
The Rankin Family is set to play Showplace
Peterborough on Friday, Nov. 19.
Cookie, Raylene, Heather and Jimmy will perform starting at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $50 for adults.
The Rankin Family is on an acoustic tour, following the success of
their latest album These Are The Moments. Reworking their new and
time-honoured hits, the band will be paring back the instrumentation
and uncovering the vocal complexities of each song, the Rankin
Family's signature harmonies will take centre stage, states a press
release.
Joining the tour is up-and-coming artist Michael Bernard Fitzgerald.
Hailing from Calgary, Fitzgerald has started to gain recognition on a
national scale. His full-length studio album, The MBF Love LP, was
released in 2009 and was produced by Russell Broom. For tickets call
the Showplace box office at 742-SHOW.
October 28, 2010 - Telegraph-Journal
By Gerry Taylor
What Canadian singing group has won 15 East Coast
Music Awards, six Junos, four Socans and three CCMA Awards?
If you guessed The Rankin Family, you're right! The beloved Mabou,
Cape Breton, play concerts at The Playhouse in Fredericton on Nov. 7;
Saint John's Imperial Theatre on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10; and The Capitol
Theatre in Moncton on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14.
The term "girl next door" has been used by many publicists to describe
such music stars as Doris Day and Anne Murray: friendly, easy to talk
to, with no star-like affectations. That description was never more
applicable than to Cookie Rankin, whom I spoke with by phone a week
ago.
I was surprised when I realized her area code was 615.
"You're in Nashville," I said. "Are you there recording? I thought I'd
be calling you in Cape Breton."
She laughed. "No," she said. "It's just you pretty much live where
your husband does. I married a guy from down here. He works in
Nashville but we live a ways out."
I told her I had attended a number of Rankin Family concerts. But I
had become a big fan of hers after a comedy skit, Girls Night Out At
The Pub, I heard on CBC Radio a dozen years ago or more.
"I don't recall it off-hand," she said. "But we did a lot of
individual spots and spoofs on CBC back then."
"I didn't know then," I said, "but found out later that Raylene,
Heather and you owned a Red Shoe Pub in Mabou."
She laughed again. "Still do. But we have the great good fortune of
having a terrific lady manage it. It would've been that pub I referred
to, definitely."
Cookie is one of 12 children born to Kathleen (a.k.a. Kaye) and
Alexander (a.k.a. Buddy) Rankin in the small village of Mabou.
Kathleen and Buddy, though not performers, fostered a love of music in
their children; encouraged them to join church choirs and involve
themselves in local music events. The older siblings formed a band in
high school but, after graduation, went their separate ways. John
Morris and Raylene, the fourth and fifth eldest, then formed The
Rankin Family with younger siblings, Heather, Cookie and Jimmy. They
kept performing to help pay university tuitions. In 1989, they
released an independent self-titled album, followed in 1990 by Fare
Thee Well Love. A year later, they signed with Capitol EMI and their
second CD was re-released on that label to a lot more fanfare. It
topped the charts at No. 1 and went on to enjoy multi-platinum sales.
Its title track was picked by Disney Studios for the movie Into The
West, endearing the Rankins to a new international audience.
In 1993, a third album, North Country, became the Rankins second No. 1
multi-platinum seller. The title track and Borders And Time became
high charting singles. In 1995, they released two best-selling CDs,
Grey Dusk Of Eve and Endless Seasons. Then Raylene, Cookie and Heather
released a Christmas CD, Do You Hear What I Hear. Their final album
together was prophetically titled Uprooted. After a tour in 1998 to
promote it, they decided to pursue separate careers.
"Then in 2000, the tragedy," I said. "I'll never forget the shock of
hearing about John's death on the radio. For any of us who'd had
children in hockey it was absolutely chilling."
John Morris Rankin, en route to a son's early morning game, died when
he swerved to avoid a huge pile of road salt on an ice-covered
highway. His vehicle went out of control.
"He was our anchor," Cookie said, "made the decisions, guided us
through our 10 years of touring, recording. We thought any hopes of
The Rankin Family ever performing together again had died with him."
Eight years later, a friend's suggestion got them thinking about it. A
new CD and a reunion tour? Would they still appeal to 21st century
audiences?
"We decided not even to consider it," Cookie said. "But after feeling
each other out individually a sudden enthusiasm caught us up. So we
gathered here in Nashville to shop for new songs and found more that
suited us than we thought we would. We released a CD, Reunion, in
January 2007 with John Morris's daughter Molly joining us on tour to
promote it. Its success inspired us to do more."
Another CD, These Are The Moments, led to the current acoustic tour,
Up Close And Personal, which mixes new repertoire and re-worked
earlier hits. Raylene, Jimmy, Cookie and Heather bring a down-home
kitchen party feel to the stage, relating stories behind the songs,
paring back instrumentation and emphasizing the vocal complexities of
each.
"Molly isn't with us on this one, however," Cookie said. "She's very
busy with a career of her own now."
During our interview, when I called Cookie a young lady, she laughed.
"Remember, it's more than 20 years since we first appeared on stage.
You'll be amazed at how I've aged!"
That led to some funny stories about barbers and hairdressers who know
"just the right colour to cut a customers' hair in."
Talking to Cookie Rankin, with her warm and friendly demeanour, is
definitely like talking to the girl next door.
Mabou's singing siblings strip
down their songs for acoustic tour
October 30, 2010 - Halifax Herald
By Stephen Cooke, Entertainment Reporter
WHEN THE Rankin Family made its official debut with
a show titled The Mabou Jig at Halifax’s Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in
1989, they had no idea that just over 20 years later they would be on
that same stage, looking back at a career filled with shows worldwide,
platinum albums and six Juno Awards.
Rankin siblings Raylene, Cookie, Heather and Jimmy are back on the
Cohn stage for three nights — Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30
p.m. — kicking off the Nova Scotia leg of their Acoustic Tour: Up
Close and Personal. Given the back-to-their-roots nature of the shows,
it seems only too appropriate to return to a place that was a key part
of their development from a Cape Breton family band into a full-time
professional act.
"I remember coming back from some shows in the U.K. in 1991, and we
were going into our first legitimate Nova Scotia tour, and we were
starting with a night at the Cohn," recalls Raylene.
"Coming back, it was so exciting. It felt like, ‘OK, we’re going for
it.’
"After that, things just seemed to take off for us. It was a very
exciting time. So this is almost like a circle."
The acoustic tour starts tonight at Charlottetown’s Confederation
Centre, with further Nova Scotia shows at the Membertou Trade and
Convention Centre on Friday, Truro’s Cobequid Educational Centre
Auditorium on Nov. 6 and a hometown show at Mabou’s Strathspey Place
on Nov. 12.
Talking over a speaker phone after taping an appearance for CTV’s Live
at Five, Raylene and Heather sound eager to take fans back to the days
when they were selling their debut cassette of Celtic and contemporary
folk tunes from the trunk of the car.
A lot has changed since then. Over time, the music became more
radio-friendly. And shortly after putting the group on hiatus in 1999,
brother John Morris was killed when his vehicle went off the road.
Cookie moved to Nashville with her husband, studio whiz George
Massenburg, while Jimmy and Raylene released well-received solo
projects.
But since their first reunion shows over three years ago, the four
Rankins have been able to recombine their musical chemistry, with the
added spice of a bit of sibling rivalry. Preparing for the current
stripped-down show hasn’t been any different.
"Well, Cookie’s within earshot, so we have to say it’s been great.
She’s fantastic. The blend is still there," laughs Raylene.
"We’ve been hammering out so many tunes, going back to the very
beginning, reworking the arrangements of the older songs," adds
Heather, who says they’ll be joined on stage by guitarist Jamie
Robinson, multi-instrumentalist Darren McMullen and percussionist
Cathy Porter.
"I think the smaller venues will be more conducive to the more
traditional songs and some of the quietly sung, harmonized parts,"
says Raylene.
The Rankins have always had quieter, intimate moments during their
bigger shows, or as intimate as you can get in a cavern like the
Halifax Metro Centre. While they were on tour for the more adult
contemporary sounding album These Are the Moments, the group did a few
promotional radio and TV appearances live off the floor with just a
couple of guitars, which kicked the idea of an acoustic tour into
gear.
"I remember Jimmy or Raylene saying, ‘Gosh, that was fun!’ " recalls
Heather. "It was so simple and the songs really stood up on their own.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to do a whole show in intimate venues where
you’re closer to the people and more easily connected to them.
"Jimmy went out on his own with his solo record and did some shows
like that and really enjoyed it, and Raylene had a similar experience.
So it all stemmed from that."
Audiences can expect to hear favourites ranging from the stirring
chorus of Fare Thee Well Love to the kitchen party anthem You Feel the
Same Way Too, as well as a couple of Jimmy’s solo tunes. A centre
point of the evening will be the Inverness County medley, weaving
together songs like Gillis Mountain, Orangedale Whistle and North
Country, while even the epic tale of a Mabou Saturday night, Mull
River Shuffle, has found a place in the acoustic setup.
With even greater emphasis on the sisters’ chiming harmonies and the
group’s interaction with the audience, Raylene said the shows will be
as much a treat for her and her brother and sisters as it will be for
the fans who’ve followed them around over the past 20-odd years.
"I don’t mean this in a saccharine kind of way, but we’re really
blessed being able to do this, still, after all this time," she says.
"To be given the opportunity to spend time together and sing music . .
. the positives far outweigh the negatives.
"Plus, we get to spend time with some excellent players and meet
people on the road, family members we haven’t seen in a while. It’s
nice that way too."
For more info on tour dates, visit therankinfamily.com.
October 31, 2010 - Northern Ontario Travel
The Rankin Family Performs at North Bay’s Capitol
Centre November 17th
Those who enjoy and appreciate the traditional music of Canada’s East
Coast will be offered a toe-tapping good time when the Rankin Family
performs at North Bay’s Capitol Centre in Ontario's Near North on
November 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Canada's Rankin Family got their start singing and dancing in their
hometown of Mabou, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Pianist/fiddler
John Morris, guitarist/vocalist Jimmy, and singers Raylene, Carol Jean
(aka Cookie), and Heather developed a unique blend of Celtic
traditionalism and contemporary folk and pop, dominated by the
effortless harmonies of the Rankin sisters.
In 1989 the combo recorded and self-released its debut and traveled
throughout Eastern Canada, promoting it with performances at folk
festivals and the like.
In September 1999, the Rankin Family ceased performing as a unit,
until a Reunion CD was released in 2007 and the family set out on a
cross-Canada tour with niece Molly Rankin completing the line up. It
seemed as though no time had passed. The Rankin family played to sold
out crowds and were welcomed back with standing ovations and amazing
reviews.
Their most recent CD, “These are the Moments”, is a new, fresh,
uplifting and inspiring collection of songs, which is lyrically and
musically standing as a brilliant body of work that quite
coincidentally reflects the hope that is so desperately sought in
these uncertain times.
So come enjoy the signature harmonies of the Rankin Family Wednesday,
November 17 at 7:30 pm at the North Bay Capitol Centre on Main Street.
To purchase tickets contact the Box Office at 474-4747 or visit 150
Main Street East between 11 am - 5:00 pm.
November 2, 2010 - Halifax Herald
By Stephen Pedersen
The Rebecca Cohn Auditorium echoed to the sounds of
sibling revelry Monday night as the Rankin Family warbled, crooned and
belted their best in the first of three concerts in Halifax kicking
off the Nova Scotia leg of their acoustic tour.
Cookie, Raylene, Heather and Jimmy Rankin have four of the sweetest,
truest and purest voices in the province, and that’s saying something
in the land of a thousand songbirds and at least one outstanding
Snowbird.
Together, pipes like theirs, nurtured for generations in the genes and
continuously cultivated from early childhood in the most natural and
happy of environments — the family kitchen — are priceless.
They sing their set list with a loving touch, and they love a good
tune, whether it’s a Gaelic marvel like Mo Run Gael Dileas or a Cape
Breton party song like Mull River Shuffle, the opening and closing
classics of their first set Monday night.
The Rankin harmonies are beautifully tuned and balanced, no mean feat
when you consider you have three treble voices and one lyrical
baritone.
They meet the challenge with tight harmonies, purely tuned and
artfully arranged, often with Cookie singing a descant.
The crowd roared their approval of each song as it emerged from
Jimmy’s and the band’s ambiguous introduction, as quiet expectancy
changed into delighted recognition with the first sung notes of each
well-known lyric.
They performed North Country, Movin On, Straight into Love, Gillis
Mountain, Orangedale Whistle and We’ll Carry On and some of Jimmy’s
choicest songs, including Borders and Time and the incomparable Fare
Thee Well Love.
Solo assignments distributed equally among the four gave the concert a
continuously varying sound while staying clearly within the same
musical style and vocal timbres.
Raylene rose again with that spine-tingling octave in Leon Dubinsky’s
Rise Again. She took a little more care than in her younger, more
reckless days, but she nailed that note with penetrating purity dead
centre, the second time adding a third above it in a spirit of sheer
vocal bravado.
Heather’s voice is stronger than ever, having gained confidence and
power over the years, allowing her to put a convincing rasp in her
voice as she belted out the melody in the country blues Movin On.
Cookie, too, sings with striking self-confidence allied to her
inventive manner of ornamenting a harmony or a melody from above.
The strengths of the Rankins go beyond nostalgia in this revisiting of
their 20-year-old glory.
They have known sadness and tragedy that have deepened their
expressive style and yet they have lost little, if any, of their
youthful bounce and vigour.
They show us all what really matters in their upbeat and
straightforward, yet subtle, singing and arrangements.
The band of Jamie Robinson on guitars, Cathy Porter on hand drums and
accordion, and Darren McMullen on tenor mandolin and other such
stringed instruments gave lively, bold accompaniments led by Jimmy’s
in-your-face rhythmic strumming.
The Rankins’ acoustic tour continues tonight and Thursday at the Cohn.
Then it travels to the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre on Friday
and the Cobequid Educational Centre auditorium in Truro on Saturday
before the Nova Scotia gigs end with a hometown show at Strathspey
Place in Mabou on Nov. 12.
Photo: Members of the Rankin Family — Jimmy,
Cookie, Raylene and Heather — take to the stage at the Rebecca Cohn
Auditorium in Halifax on Monday. (Ingrid Bulmer / Staff)
November 2, 2010 - Daily Gleaner
By Laverne Stewart
It's time to get up close and personal with The
Rankin Family. This will happen when Raylene, Jimmy, Cookie, and
Heather present their new and time-honoured hits acoustically at The
Playhouse on Sunday, Nov. 7.
This month they are travelling to intimate venues across the region
sharing all of the songs many people know and love but in a way that
reminds them of when they were first learning to sing and play
together at their home in Mabou, Cape Breton.
These singing siblings will entertain audiences with their beautiful
melodies and poignant lyrics as well as sharing the stories behind
their greatest hits.
In a telephone interview with The Daily Gleaner from her Nashville
home, Cookie Rankin talked about the tour with her two sisters and
brother.
If you decide to see them, she says, you will experience what they
used to do long before they recorded their first album and performed
in huge venues.
"In the past, we've done these kinds of gigs and they are always a lot
of fun because it's a more intimate setting and it's a scaled-down
band so you're really getting a sense of what it would have been like
to play in our parlour or living room when we were much younger and
the way we were brought up playing music. It's very acoustic."
There will likely be a set list with all of the favourite and familiar
Rankin Family tunes but, she says, they will be open to mixing it up
and playing whatever the audience wants to hear.
"If an audience member yells out they want to hear a particular song
hopefully, even if it's 100 years old, we'll be able to do it."
Cookie Rankin is more partial to traditional songs as opposed to
today's popular music.
This is the reason she and her family members are excited about
singing the old songs in this raw and stripped-down way.
"We haven't really shown this side of what we do in a very long time
and if we did, it was with a very limited audience.
"This our first time choosing to go out there with the bare bones,
sharing with people what it was like to grow up in a musical family in
an acoustic setting because this is how we learned music. We had a
piano and a guitar and a fiddle."
She excuses herself momentarily to see to the needs of her border
collie named Charlie Joe, who is insistent that she throw a ball to
him while she is on the phone.
Before the tour began, she took her dog to Montreal where they visited
with her husband who is teaching music at McGill University.
The Rankins' tour will continue until Nov. 26. Then, after just a few
days off, the Rankin Sisters will start their Christmas tour in
Western Canada.
"I'm trying to get packed for two-and-a-half months on the road," says
Cookie Rankin.
While touring periodically with her sisters and brother is great,
Cookie Rankin says she doesn't miss life on the road. The long hours
on a tour bus and sleeping in hotels night after night is something
she isn't willing to do all the time like they once did when they were
together full-time.
"I think your priorities change and everybody has spouses and kids and
homes and it (touring) is a great lifestyle for people who are young
and unattached and there's no worry about getting home to kids and a
husband, but when you get older, I just don't want to do that kind of
travelling. It's exhausting. I think we enjoy it more because it's not
full-time now."
In 1999 the group disbanded because each of the Rankins wanted to
pursue other interests and musical projects. Tragedy struck the next
year when John Morris Rankin was killed in a single-vehicle accident.
His loss left a huge hole in the Rankin family.
"We were like a tightly woven piece of material. One of the reasons it
took us longer to join up again was the loss of John Morris. We just
felt that it was something we didn't want to do without him.
"He had a certain accent that he spoke with and that he gave our music
that was very much a signature of himself. His loss was like a piece
of fibre that was missing."
It took eight years before they would come together again to perform
and when they did, the colour of that fabric had changed slightly and
the fibres, she says, had to be woven back together a little tighter.
The Reunion CD was released in January of 2007 and the family set out
on a cross-Canada tour. At that time, John Morris Rankin's daughter,
Molly Rankin, joined her aunts and uncle on stage. Fans were thrilled.
It's nice to think that John Morris Rankin was smiling at the sight of
his daughter on stage with his siblings playing the music that he
loved, she says. When they are on stage now, she says, she feels her
brother's spirit.
"I will usually have flashbacks throughout the show. I'll be thinking,
OK, this is where he would come in or this is what he would be doing.
So I do have very vivid feelings about that fifth person that's not
there."
In 2009 they recorded These Are The Moments and their fans were
thrilled once again.
While they all have varied and busy lives, getting together for these
shows is a chance to enjoy one another's company while making the
music that they love.
This acoustic tour is something they are enjoying, she says, because
it's not something they do very often.
"I think it allows us to connect with the audience a bit more, like we
did in the beginning."
Each member of this musical family continues to pursue his or her own
music and business endeavours. The girls own The Red Shoe Pub in their
hometown of Mabou and take on individual singing projects. The Rankin
Sisters Christmas concert tour is a perennial favourite. When this
Rankin Family acoustic tour is over, there are just a couple of days
when Cookie Rankin will be able to go back to visit with her husband
and Charlie Joe and then she will be on the road once more with her
sisters in Western Canada until Dec. 20. "This Christmas, I am hoping
to make it to Cape Breton because it's been 10 years since I've been
there for the holidays."
----
Who: The Rankin Family
What: The Rankin Family Acoustic Tour - Up Close and Personal
When: Sunday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m.
Where: The Playhouse
Tickets: $59.50
Information: Call 458-8344 or go to www.theplayhouse.ca
November 3, 2010 - Cape Breton Post
By Laura Jean Grant
MEMBERTOU — The “Mull River Shuffle” is in for a
bit of a shuffle.
Famous Cape Breton siblings, Jimmy, Heather,
Raylene and Cookie Rankin are back and on the road again, this time
for an acoustic tour. With less instrumentation and more focus on
vocals, The Rankin Family has gone through its impressive musical
catalogue, reworking and rearranging many of its most popular songs as
well as some of its lesser known material, for the month-long tour
across Atlantic Canada and Ontario, which includes two Cape Breton
dates.
“It’s a pared down acoustic tour,” said Jimmy, in a
phone interview from Nashville, Tenn. “It’s something I personally
have wanted to do for a long time. Initially the way we started making
music when we were kids in our home and around home, was very pared
down, acoustic, you know piano and guitars and fiddles.”
From that Mabou home, The Rankin Family grew to
become one of Cape Breton’s most successful touring acts, climbing to
fame throughout the 1990s before disbanding in 1999. Eight years
later, in 2007, Jimmy, Heather, Raylene and Cookie reunited to much
fanfare for a national tour, and came together again in 2009 for
another tour and the release of a new CD, “These Are The Moments,”
featuring a few new songs, as well as remixed and remastered versions
of classics like “Rise Again” and “Fare Thee Well Love.”
Those Rankin songs and many others will be heard
this Friday when The Rankin Family performs at 8 p.m. at the Membertou
Trade and Convention Centre. A week later, it will be home for a
performance, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. at Strathspey Place in Mabou. That show
is part of Strathspey Place’s 10-year anniversary celebrations and
will take place on the John Morris Rankin Stage, named in honour of
the fifth member of The Rankin Family, who died in 2000 in a car
accident.
Jimmy — who is currently in Nashville working on a
new solo record, due for release in April — said he’s looking forward
to getting together with his sisters again, and is excited for the
opportunity to “shake things up” a bit by doing an acoustic tour.
“It’s going to be fun, just doing a song like “Mull
River Shuffle” without a big set of drums and electric guitars and all
that,” he said. “I think the sound is going to be different but I
think people will focus more on vocals which is a large part of what
the group has been about. And we’ll focus more on that. When you’re
doing an acoustic thing you don’t have all those other things to hide
behind so you really have to be conscious about what you’re doing
vocally.”
Tickets to The Rankin Family show in Membertou are
$47.50 and are on sale at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre
box office, which can be reached by phone at 539-2300.
Tickets to the show in Mabou are $45 and are
available through the Strathspey Place box office or by calling
945-5300. Strathspey Place members can purchase tickets for $36.
November 4, 2010 - Here NB
By Paige Aarhus
After years of massive tours, big-band set-ups and
roller-coaster ride shows, the East Coast's own Rankin Family is going
bare-bones with a stripped-down acoustic tour that showcases why they
got famous in the first place.
The award-winning family group hailing from Cape Breton Island is in
the midst of a Maritime tour aimed at showcasing musical ability over
production value.
"The new songs all lend themselves to acoustic. They were written
acoustically, and that's how we started playing music was with
acoustic instruments, singing in the kitchen," said Jimmy Rankin.
"I always thought it'd be a great idea," said Rankin, who together
with Cookie, Raylene and Heather, make up the Rankin Family (John
Morris and Raylene left in 1999; John Morris was killed in a car crash
in 2000.)
The siblings have played together for over 20 years now, picking up 15
East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three
Canadian Country Music Awards and two Big Country Music Awards.
They've released dozens of albums, including a 1992 re-release of Fare
Thee Well Love, which went quadruple platinum and sold over 500,000
copies.
Most recently came 2007's Reunion, their first album after a nearly
decade-long hiatus, and 2009's These Are The Moments. It was this
album that they decided to simplify their Celtic sound for an intimate
tour that would allow a real connection with the audience.
"With big bands shows it's like a roller coaster ride, with theme
songs and quiet ballads - but with this one, if anything it's more
intimate. We're focusing more on vocals and audiences and smaller
little intricacies," said Rankin.
It's a challenge, he admitted. The vocals have to be perfect and it
can be tricky taking arrangements apart, subtracting from the
equation.
"It's something we've never done but it's going really well. So far,
so good," he said.
Spending most of your life touring and playing with a huge group of
siblings could be a recipe for disaster - in 1999, after a recording
session with the Chieftains, the group announced they were going on
hiatus. But Rankin said everything's gold now.
"We're professionals and we've been doing this for so long, we know
how to travel and work together. Being in a family environment it has
its drawbacks, but when we're on stage there's this certain magic that
you can't put your finger on."
----
The Rankin Family:
November 7, 8pm. The Playhouse. 686 Queen Street, Fredericton.
458-8344. $59.50.
November 9 and 10, 7:30pm. Imperial Theatre, 24 King Square South,
Saint John. 674-4100. $47.
November 13 and 14, 7:30pm. Capitol Theatre. 811 Main St., Moncton.
856-4379. $49.
November 5, 2010 - Brockville Recorder & Times
By Ronald Zajac
The Rankin Family hopes to bring the Maritime
kitchen to the Brockville Arts Centre stage.
The celebrated Cape Breton group, which comes to Brockville Monday,
November 15, has just embarked on an intimate acoustic tour following
the success of their latest album, These Are The Moments (2009).
"The Rankin Family Acoustic Tour -Up Close and Personal," pares back
the instrumentation on the group's songs, getting back to the basics
of the Rankin Family's signature harmonies.
Lead songwriter Jimmy Rankin describes it as a Maritime down-home
kitchen party brought to the stage.
"It's something that we always did anyway, when we
were making music as kids," he said in a telephone interview Wednesday
from Halifax. "It's something that I've been thinking about for a
while. ..."
"It's what this group's about, in large part, is the vocals."
Focusing on those core vocals, however, can be a challenge.
"You can't hide behind bass and drums," said Jimmy Rankin.
"It really keeps you on your toes."
Not only that, but the instrumentation also leaves behind the piano.
"There were things that I thought that would be very challenging,
because the piano is such a large part of that Rankin sound," he said.
"You just have to quit thinking about those arrangements."
On the positive side, he said, going acoustic frees the group up,
especially with its tempo, and transforming songs such as "Mull River
Shuffle" from large concert arrangements into "organic" acoustic
pieces has been a fascinating exercise.
Siblings Jimmy, John Morris, Cookie, Raylene and Heather Rankin
achieved great commercial success before splitting up, in 1999, to
pursue independent careers.
Less than a year later, tragedy struck when John Morris was killed in
a car accident in Cape Breton.
Jimmy Rankin said it was a promoter's call, out of the blue, that
prompted the remainder of the band to reunite in 2007. By then, Jimmy
was well into the solo career he is still pursuing today.
"No one had any idea what to expect," he recalled.
"What we found was people wanted to hear those songs again."
Nearly a decade after the breakup, loyal Rankins fans had passed the
music on to their children, turning the audience into a
multi-generational one.
"It's actually a lovely thing that it's crossed over like that and
it's still alive," said Jimmy Rankin.
The Brockville show will feat u re reworked Rankin standards, with the
group backed by an all-acoustic band.
There will also be some pieces from the group's earlier albums.
"We revisited material that we haven't done in years, more obscure
Rankin gems," said Jimmy.
The shift to acoustic also means a greater emphasis on the group's
Celtic sound, added Rankin.
Over the years, the music industry has had great difficulty pegging
the Rankins into a particular genre, he noted.
But the toe-tapping fiddle and timeless melodies at the root of their
Celtic sound has a universal appeal, said Rankin, adding that kids who
hear the fiddle immediately begin to dance.
"I think that the music is infectious," he said.
The Rankins have not played the arts centre since before their
reunion, added Jimmy, who nonetheless remembers the venue as "a lovely
theatre" and looks forward to seeing its new, renovated look.
The Rankins play the arts centre on Monday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $42.50 plus HST. More information is available by calling
342-7122, or online at www.brockvilleartscentre.com.
November 6, 2010 - Cornwall Standard Freeholder
By Cheryl Brink
CORNWALL -- Aultsville Theatre director Penny
McDonald is "thrilled beyond words" to have the Rankin family
returning to Cornwall.
The award-winning east coast group is back with an acoustic
performance, which will be on the Aultsville stage on Nov. 21.
"We've done the big show thing for 20 years," said Cookie Rankin, who
tours with siblings Jimmy, Heather and Raylene. "We just really wanted
a change."
She said they are sticking to smaller theatres and
cities to keep the show's planned intimate vibe.
"We're doing venues that lend themselves to that
kind of approach," she said. "You can't do arenas with this kind of
show."
Though they have been in Cornwall before, Cookie said she is hoping
this tour will help them connect to new and old fans that haven't seen
them in concert before. "They appreciate you differently," she
explained. "They appreciate you coming the distance."
The Rankin's latest album, These Are the Moments, was released in
2008. The quartet is revisiting old hits but introducing new songs as
well.
Cookie said this tour pares down the production of their concert and
keeps it simple, with more acoustic and strings.
"It's less volume . . . it's the basics, " she said.
Five of the 12 Rankin siblings released their first independent album
in 1989 as a way to pay for university tuition. Their second recording
vaulted them to stardom in the early 90s. The Rankin Family won 15
East Coast Music Awards, six Junos and numerous other accolades in the
first decade of their musical career. They split in 1999 to pursue
solo projects, but reunited three years ago following the death of
John Morris.
The four remaining members of the group have sell out shows and
collect fans across the country and beyond.
Most of them stay busy with personal projects when they aren't working
together; Heather does some acting as well. Jimmy is working on his
fourth solo album and the girls also perform a popular annual
Christmas tour.
Cookie said she lives vicariously through her husband as well, who is
a producer, a professor at McGill University and designer for
recording equipment.
They all live in various places, so when the tour begins they spend
nearly all of their time together.
"We usually drive in the same vehicle," she said. "We have a lot of
laughs, tell stories. It's a lot of fun."
Cookie said they have a blast going back to the early days of their
career, when they were inexperienced and had no idea how far their
music would take them.
"We reminisce a lot about the first couple of years that we toured
because it was kind of the years that our eyes were opened to the
possibilities," she said. "We traveled with our own CDs and tapes in a
suitcase."
She said this tour is a throwback to those days, without a major
production and huge sound.
"This one is really, really pared down," she said. "It sounds really
good."
She said one of her favourite -- and most nerve-racking -- shows was
performing a live TV special in Scotland in the mid-90s.
"There was a feeling like, wow, this is such a different place," she
said. "Even though we have a connection to our history and where we
came from . . . it was an absolute thrill to be invited into this
scenario that our people from 150 years ago came from."
Before hitting Cornwall, the Rankin Family is touring across the east
coast and performing in other venues across Ontario -- including
Massey Hall in Toronto.
The Aultsville show starts at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 21. Tickets
are $61 at the civic complex box office.
November 9, 2010 - Metro Ottawa
By Joe Loraro
The Rankin family brings a taste of Nova Scotia to Ottawa later this
month when they perform at the Centrepointe Theatre for their new
acoustic tour, Up Close and Personal, on Nov. 22.
How did the Rankin Family start?
Before making records we played music throughout
our childhood, but it wasn’t until 1989 that we made our first
recording and 1992 we signed a record deal with EMI. Back in early
days when I was growing up, the band was the older siblings in the
group and it became the Rankins.
Fare Thee Well Love went multi-platinum in 1992. What was that like?
That broke on adult contemporary radio at number
one for three weeks. It really exposed the group to mainstream radio
across the country. We also started with festivals in the UK and then
we started headlining our own shows. The music was universal and the
people responded wherever we played.
Why did you decide to reunite after such a long break?
A promoter, Jeff Parry, contacted me and had been
listening to our music, and he thought people still wanted to listen
to it. I was the first one he called. Everyone was doing their own
things so it took a while to get everyone together. First thing we did
was…we got a record released. It was a lot of fun because people
wanted to hear those songs.
Is it impossible for a group to stay together for the entirety of
their career?
Initially when you start out your goal is to make
music out there and generally a band is young. You have to go through
the rigmarole of the business and you start to get older. It’s very
hard to stay together, especially if you’re a family. I think it’s
important to have independent projects.
Did things change since the Internet?
Things changed with the Internet and technology and
people started downloading, as you know. You have to think of other
ways to survive and make a living. Making money off a CD is not an
option. The problem is that the market is saturated. Eventually
artists will sort themselves out. My motto is to sing through it.
What is the Rankin Family like now?
The girls do their Christmas tour every year.
Raylene has a solo record. I’ve released 3 solo records out to date.
I’ll have another record in April 2011. I have to juggle both careers.
What kind of show will you put on Nov. 22?
It’s an acoustic and vocal show. It’s very
refreshing for us. We got a song list together of the songs that we
thought were appropriate for this concert and...narrowed them down to
20. We tried to pick the more obscure ones that we haven’t done in a
long time, and also some songs that people expect at a Rankin concert.
November 10, 2010 - The Brunswickan
By Alison Clark
I didn’t know what to expect, being one of a handful of 20 somethings
in a more mature audience.
It’s been a long time since I felt like a youngin’ while attending a
concert, but I was pleasantly surprised by the vitality and passion of the
audience I was surrounded by – hell, they were more into it than most of
the hipster-filled shows I’ve ever been to.
I have to preface this review by saying that I’m not the biggest Rankin
fan. I don’t dislike them by any means, but beyond the songs I heard from
my parents growing up and a few select friends who like them I couldn’t
tell you much about them. What I do know now, however, is that they are
one incredibly talented family.
The Rankin Family played this past Sunday, Nov. 7 at The Playhouse to a
sold-out show. And the packed house was a seriously impressed one. The
Rankins received a standing ovation for both their original set as well as
their encore.
It’s no surprise why they received a standing ovation though. I’d already
decided they deserved one by the second song.
Harmonies might seem unimpressive in today’s music climate with the
chronic (over) use of auto-tune and other mastering techniques on records,
as well as lip-synching in highly produced live shows. However, The
Rankins proved what some old-fashioned talent and hard work could bring to
a live performance.
The three sisters, Cookie, Raylene and Heather blended their voices
beautifully. No one sister stood out over the other and I was equally
impressed by each of them – even jealous (I wish I could sing with the
power and confidence they displayed).
Singing perfect harmonies seems almost old hat for the three sisters and
their brother, but they still brought a lot of fun to the show. The family
switched back and forth between songs chatting with the audience, always
entertaining and never keeping the changeover too long.
Stories ranged from what they’d done that day to back-stories about a
drunken granduncle singing “Mull River Shuffle” to them when he came to
visit on ‘holiday’.
The audience also got in on the fun with pride-filled calls from Cape
Breton natives in the audience to their stars on stage.
The final song of the show, “You Feel the Same Way Too,” had the audience
on their feet, clapping and singing along to the classic.
The show was impressive to say the least. I may not have entered the show
a Rankin fan, but I left it feeling just as strongly about the band as
everyone else in the audience.
Photo:
The Rankin Family (in
their current form) have been recording records and touring together since
the late 1980s. Over the course of their twenty-odd years together the
talented family have earned multiple awards ranging from ECMAs, to Junos
and Canadian Country Music Awards (By: Christian Hapgood/The Brunswickan)
November 11, 2010 - Times and Transcript
By Ken Kelley
After dazzling East Coast audiences for almost two decades with their
familial harmonies and Celtic-influenced songs, Cape Breton's The Rankin
Family is going back to basics for a pair of shows at Moncton's Capitol
Theatre this Saturday and Sunday.
The Rankin Family's Acoustic Tour sees the sibling musical band giving its
new songs, as well as its tried, tested and true material, the acoustic
treatment, something that Jimmy Rankin says was a completely natural thing
for the group.
"I think the initial impetus for this tour was to be selfish and give us
something new to learn and look forward to, but then it became about going
back to how we started playing music in the first place," he says.
"When we started making music, it was very acoustic, very bare bones and
very intimate. We have been rehearsing and revamping our catalogue
specifically for these shows. It has honestly been a lot of fun; the stark
nature of these shows allows us to focus on the vocal delivery of these
songs, which is primarily what we are about."
Jimmy notes that some of their songs sound drastically different in the
acoustic environment, especially considering some of the tracks are given
the full-band instrumentation on record. The process of selecting the
songs for performance was an interesting exercise, he says, but that since
the bulk of the tracks were originally written on acoustic guitar or
piano, it was very natural to bring the songs back to that state in
preparation for this tour.
The early part of this decade was largely a quiet one for The Rankins, who
had gone their separate ways in 1999.
The band re-grouped for 2007's Reunion, its first record of new material
since the unfortunate passing of sibling John Morris Rankin in an auto
accident in 2000. Reunion was followed by a second full-length record,
These Are The Moments, in 2009.
As far as Jimmy is concerned, the band is in a much happier place now,
with members working on their own terms and schedule as opposed to working
on someone else's agenda.
"There was a time through the '90s that we were contractually obligated to
deliver records. It was a job then, mind you.
"It was a great job and a successful one at that. Then in 1999-2000, we
sort of disbanded and I didn't think we would ever get back together as a
touring unit. Then we were approached to do Reunion and surprisingly found
that we still had fans out there."
Jimmy says that he is happy with the pace of life he and his musical
siblings are keeping now. By not making The Rankins a full-time priority,
returning to the comfortable confines of the group is a more pleasurable,
fun experience for all involved.
Further to that, Jimmy admits there is a chemistry between the quartet
that has been cemented by years of playing together, likening the
experience to "total harmony" and synchronization with one other.
"Just from the experience of having played with each other in the band for
so long, we seem to each have this innate ability to know what the other
ones are going to do without really having to verbally communicate with
each other."
When all was quiet in the land of the Rankin Family, Jimmy set about
developing himself as a solo artist, releasing three critically acclaimed
records in addition to an ambitious touring schedule that led him to play
"hundreds of shows" right across Canada.
"Embarking on a solo career was a very new process to me," he admits. "I
was always a part of a band in the past so it was a little different to
make a record on my own and call all of the creative shots by myself.
"I knew that I was going to be capable of doing it but not having done it
before, there were a lot of challenges at the time. It is virtually second
nature to me now though."
With The Rankins tour schedule booked through the end of the month, Jimmy
anticipates being able to put the finishing touches on his next solo
record soon after the tour concludes. At the time of his interview with
the Times & Transcript, he was aiming for a release date of April 2011.
Even with no new record to tour behind as a group, Jimmy is more than
happy to be keeping company and making music with his siblings once again.
"This acoustic tour is going to be a lot more intimate than shows we have
done in the past. I think our fans are really going to enjoy the show."
----
* WHAT: The Rankin Family
* WHEN: Saturday and Sunday. Show time each evening is 7:30 p.m.
* WHERE: Capitol Theatre, 811 Main Street, Moncton
* TICKETS: $45.50 plus service charge, available at the Capitol Theatre
Box Office and at Frank's Music (245 Carson Dr, Moncton)
Performance set for Showplace
Peterborough
November 12, 2010 - Peterborough Examiner
By Werner Bergen, Examiner Entertainment Editor
The Rankin Family wanted to perform music that didn't translate well
into the big production, arena style concerts they have been doing lately.
So they came up with the idea of an "acoustic" show, a more intimate
performance to take on tour. That tour stops at Showplace Peterborough on
Friday at 8 p.m., said Raylene Rankin, in an Examiner telephone interview.
"After the last tour we did we thought it would be cool to do an acoustic
show, featuring songs that are heard on radio in a different
configuration," she said.
The Rankins — Raylene, Jimmy Cookie and Heather — are on a tour that
features half the concerts in Nova Scotia, finishing the rest in Ontario.
The music will include two 50-minute sets plus encore makes it for a "good
full night," Raylene said.
The music will include songs from some of their older recordings, some of
Jimmy's solo music and even some of their more obscure recordings.
"It's a blend, a nice mix," Raylene said.
Besides the four Rankins there are three additional musicians on the tour.
"It's a real change from our regular band," she said.
The band includes Jamie Robinson on guitars, Cathy Porter on drums and
accordion and Darren McMullen on tenor mandolin and other such stringed
instruments.
From Mabou, Cape Breton, the Rankins bring the Maritime down-home kitchen
party to the stage, as they share the stories behind their greatest hits.
The band of Jamie Robinson on guitars, Cathy Porter on hand drums and
accordion, and Darren McMullen on tenor mandolin and other such stringed
instruments gave lively, bold accompaniments led by Jimmy's in-your-face
rhythmic strumming.
Tickets are $50 and available at the Showplace box office, 290 George St.
N., or by calling 742-SHOW.
November 19, 2010 - Kitchener-Waterloo Record
By Robert Reid
Concert
Rankin Family
Centre in the Square
7:30 p.m. Friday
Tickets ($49, $59, $79) available at 519-578-1570 or online at
www.centre-square.com
As performers, The Rankin Family have always been warm and personable.
But the quartet of singing siblings is determined to make the current tour
more “up close and personal” than usual.
Cookie, Heather, Raylene and Jimmy have reunited for a tour of Eastern
Canada in support of their latest album These Are the Moments, which
blends six new songs with seven previously released tracks including the
haunting, contemporary, classic Fare Thee Well Love.
They conclude the tour with an appearance Friday at Centre in the Square.
They last appeared in Kitchener in 2007.
Afterwards, Cookie, Raylene and Heather will take a short breather before
heading out on the road again for their annual Christmas tour.
As reflected in These Are the Moments, the Rankins are introducing new
songs while reworking some of their hits and fan favorites.
The concert format recalls the group’s origins.
“It’s how we performed when we started out,” says Cookie Rankin from her
home in Nashville. “It allows us to revisit our roots.”
Cookie is married to record producer George Massenburg and both her and
Jimmy live in Nashville. In contrast, Raylene and Heather continue to live
in Nova Scotia.
The Rankin Family had advanced to large arenas before disbanding in 1999
after brother John Morris died in an auto accident. Now the family prefers
to perform in smaller, more intimate concert halls.
“Bigger isn’t always better,” Rankin says. “We want to reconnect with our
audiences.”
By paring back on instrumentation, the siblings place the spotlight on the
intricate vocal harmonies they honed singing around the piano in the
parlor of their family home in Cape Breton.
“We want to create the feeling we experienced singing as a family before
we performed professionally.”
The more intimate setting allows for more interaction among the siblings
on stage as well as with audience members.
Jimmy has always been the prime songwriter for the group. In recent years
he has tended to collaborate with other songwriters as varied as fellow
Martimers Gordie Sampson and Lennie Gallant, country artist Patricia
Conroy and Tom Wilson, the former Junkhouse lead singer who forms one
third of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.
The sisters also contribute the occasional song — Heather’s Nothing to
Believe In and I Would and Cookie’s Maybe You’re Right are included on
These Are the Moments.
Rankin has no hesitation about heading back out on the road with her
sisters to tour their Christmas show across Western Canada.
“We’ve done our Christmas show every year with the exception of 2006,”
Rankin recalls. “It’s our time for the sisters to get together. We love
celebrating Christmas on stage.”
The sisters will tour until December 21 when everyone will gather in Cape
Breton to celebrate the holiday.
“It’ll be tight but we’ll all be home in time to put up the tree.”
Meanwhile, Rankin looks forward to returning to Kitchener.
“We love Kitchener, everyone is always so hospitable.”
November 27, 2010 - Kitchener-Waterloo Record
By Robert Reid
Review
KITCHENER — The musical road between Cape Breton and Nashville winds
through the Rankin Family.
The quartet of songwriting and vocalist siblings started their collective
career more than two decades ago as part of an emerging East Coast music
scene with a strong Celtic flavour.
While remnants of their Celtic roots remain, they have branched out to
embrace a blend of country and pop that defines the music of Nashville
these days.
On Friday the road led Jimmy, Raylene, Cookie and Heather Rankin to the
Centre in the Square, the last stop on a 23-city tour of Ontario and
Eastern Canada.
“We’re excited to be here,” Raylene exclaimed. “We couldn’t pick a better
place to end our tour.”
Billing themselves as an acoustic tour, the Rankins wanted to replicate
the kind of music they played as a family growing up in Inverness County.
“We’re bringing the kitchen to Kitchener,” Jimmy joked.
Backed by an acoustic trio of Nova Scotia musicians featuring Jamie
Robinson on guitar, Cathy Porter on percussion and accordion and Darren
McMullen on mandolin, bass and bouzouki, the Rankins made good on their
intention.
Both 50 minutes began with Gaelic songs.
But the Celtic heart of the concert came mid-way through the second set
with three of Jimmy’s songs of heartache and longing including Bells (“If
only you would love me bells would ring. . .”), Borders and Time (“The
winds of change have swept you away. . .”) and Fare Thee Well Love.
Jimmy noted that it has been 20 years since Fare Three Well Love, one of
the best Canadian songs ever written, was penned. It still sounds like it
has been passed down through the generations, transcending time and place,
and bridging history and geography.
“It is played by choirs and orchestras everywhere, I even get requests to
play it at funerals,” he confided. “It has taken on a life of its own.”
And he and Cookie never sounded better on the heart-felt duet.
The song has aged splendidly and they sang it as a reminder that the
sorrows that eclipse the joys of life leave us richer, if sadder; but also
more grateful and graceful.
The key to the Rankin Family’s success has always been, and remains,
two-fold.
Jimmy’s fine songwriting, even though his sisters kick in occasional
songs, and the spine-tingling vocal harmonies Cookie, Raylene and Heather
create, as intricate and as beautiful as Celtic knotwork.
And both qualities were driven home Friday night.
They drew from their complete songbook including Gillis Mountain, Tell My
Ma, North Country, Mull River Shuffle, Rise Again, Movin’ On and Departing
Song, among others. You Feel the Same Way Too segued into the late Gene
MacLellan’s Put Your Hand in the Hand.
These were complemented with Tripper from Jimmy’s solo debut release Song
Dog, and Will Carry On, the lead single from his forthcoming solo release,
in addition to Never Alone and the title track from the group’s latest
release These Are the Moments.
The sisters recalled the female singing trios of the 1950s on a cover of
David Francey’s In My Dreams.
