An Interview With The Rankin Family Over At The 9513

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. A year later they issued their second recording, Fare Thee Well Love. The Rankin Family signed with EMI in 1992 and re-released their first two recordings. North Country followed a year later. The album was the best representation yet of the Rankins' mix of folk and traditional Gaelic songs and arrangements. After 1995's Grey Dusk of Eve EP, Endless Seasons appeared. Uprooted followed in 1998. Recorded principally in Nashville, the album included country-tinged material as well as experiments with expanded instrumentation and spoken word.

After nearly a ten year break in which the family tragically lost John Morris to a car crash, the group has rejoined and released two more albums including 2009's These Are The Moments. I had an opportunity to interview Heather and Jimmy Rankin over at The 9513 about the album and their unique take on music HERE.

"It’s just Rankin music. It is hard to describe. There is no category that it falls into. It has influences from country music, folk, traditional and it’s one of the problems that we had when we first started playing in the community in which we were raised. I remember when we were selling CDs, when we were playing community shows out of the back of our cars. And after a while, we were selling so many records, it finally got the attention of the record people in Toronto. When we signed with EMI Canada, it was difficult for them to put us in a category, so people just started calling it Canadian Country. It’s something that’s most appealing to our music, it doesn’t just fall into one category."- Heather Rankin