The Rankin Family

The Rankin Family

The Rankin Family performing aboard the M/S Scotia Prince, April 18, 1990. From left to right: Jimmy Rankin, Natalie MacMaster, Bruce Phillips, Raylene Rankin, John Morris Rankin, Cookie Rankin, Heather Rankin.
Background information
Origin Mabou, Nova Scotia
Genres Country/folk
Years active 1989 (1989)–present
Labels Capitol, EMI, Liberty, MapleMusic
Website therankinfamily.com
Members Jimmy Rankin
Cookie Rankin
Heather Rankin
Past members Raylene Rankin (1960–2012)
John Morris Rankin (1959-2000)
David Rankin
Geraldine Rankin (1958–2007)
Genevieve Rankin

The Rankin Family is a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadian Country Music Awards and two Big Country Music Awards.

Career

Background

The Rankins come from a family of 12 siblings, all of whom would entertain the neighbours musically every third weekend as part of a cèilidh. The first Rankin Family band formed in the 1970s when siblings Geraldine, Genevieve, David, John Morris, and Raylene Rankin began performing at local weddings and dances in Cape Breton. As the older siblings went away to college and university, the younger siblings Jimmy, Cookie and Heather took their places.[1]

1989 - 1999

Jimmy, John Morris, Cookie, Raylene and Heather Rankin released their own independent cassettes, The Rankin Family (1989) and Fare Thee Well Love (1990), featuring original songs and a combination of traditional jigs, reels and Celtic folk songs. These independent recordings were distributed by the Canadian independent folk music distribution company 'Soundwright' until the band's major label break through with EMI. Their television debut was on the CBC variety show On the Road Again in 1989. EMI's re-release of Fare Thee Well Love in 1992, went quadruple platinum, selling over 500,000 copies; the title track was a Top 40 single in Canada.

In 1998 The Rankins first worked with The Chieftains on their album, Fire in the Kitchen, performing the Celtic song, "An Innis Aigh" (The Happy Isle). On September 17, 1999, after recording the song "Jimmy Mo Mhile Stor" with The Chieftains for their album, Tears of Stone, the group issued a press release stating that they would no longer perform as a group in order to pursue independent interests and careers.

2000 - present

On January 16, 2000, John Morris Rankin was killed in a car accident in Cape Breton Island.[2] His daughter Molly is now a musician, who is lead vocalist for the indie pop band Alvvays.[3]

In the spring of 2000 Heather Rankin joined Carly Simon on her New York City promotional tour for her record The Bedroom Tapes, and appeared with Simon on the Rosie O'Donnell show.

Jimmy Rankin has continued to write songs and has released five solo albums: Song Dog (2001), Handmade (2003), Edge of Day (2007), Forget About the World (2011), and Back Road Paradise (2014). Raylene Rankin has released the solo albums Lambs in Spring (2004) and all the diamonds (2011). Raylene passed of cancer in 2012. When not performing on their own, the sisters run The Red Shoe pub in Mabou.[4]

One of the original founders of the group, Geraldine Coyne (Rankin) died January 10, 2007, the result of a brain aneurysm, at her home in Calgary. She had not performed with the group since prior to the first recordings being released.[1]

On January 16, 2007, the album Reunion was released, and in 2009 the Rankin Family released their seventh studio album These Are the Moments.

On June 3, 2012, Raylene Rankin appeared on CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition where she spoke about her decade-long struggle with cancer.[5] She died of metastatic breast cancer on September 30, 2012.[6]

Members

Former members

Discography

Studio albums

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Result
1992 Juno Awards Most Promising Group of the Year Nominated
Country Group or Duo of the Year Nominated
Best Roots & Traditional Album - Fare Thee Well Love Nominated
1994 Juno Awards Single of the Year - Fare Thee Well Love Won
Group of the Year Won
Country Group or Duo of the Year Won
Canadian Entertainer of the Year Won
1995 Juno Awards Group of the Year Nominated
1996 Juno Awards Album of the Year - North Country Nominated
Country Group or Duo of the Year Nominated
1997 Juno Awards Country Group or Duo of the Year Won
1999 Juno Awards Best Group Nominated
2000 Juno Awards Best Country Group or Duo Won
2002 Juno Awards Best Country Artist/Group - Jimmy Rankin (solo) Nominated
2012 Juno Awards Country Album of the Year - Forget About the World (Jimmy Rankin solo album) Nominated
2013 Juno Awards Adult Contemporary Album of the Year - All The Diamonds (Raylene Rankin solo album) Nominated

References

Citations
  1. 1 2 Canadian Post, The Cape Breton Post, "Rankins Tour Postponed as Family Grieves", pg A2, January 13, 2007
  2. ↑ "John Morris Rankin killed in truck crash". cbc.ca. 11 November 2000.
  3. ↑ "Alvvays’s Molly Rankin broke with family tradition". The Georgia Straight, November 26, 2014.
  4. ↑ The Red Shoe Pub History. Accessed 19 March 2016
  5. ↑ "Documentary: All the Diamonds". cbc.ca. 18 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Singer Raylene Rankin dies of cancer". cbc.ca. 30 September 2012.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.