Press

The Lunchbox Interview: Heather Rankin

CHSR Podcast
In some people, music is just simply in their home. They grow up with it as plentiful as water, as necessary as sleep, and as ubiquitous as snow in the winter.

Heather Rankin grew up listening, playing, singing and being music. After the success with her brothers and sisters, she returns with a solo album of her own, A Fine Line. Heather is my guest today, and we discuss life in such an incredible group, her desire to go in her own direction musically, and owning a pub in Mabou.
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Busy spring ahead for Heather Rankin

The Reporter

MABOU: With an album, single and video hitting the public later this week and a high-profile hosting gig coming days later, Heather Rankin is gearing up for a busy spring.

The veteran singer-songwriter will co-host this year’s East Coast Music Awards gala with fellow Inverness County native Ashley MacIsaac on April 14 at Sydney’s Centre 200, prior to participating in the East Coast Music Week (ECMW) Songwriter’s Circle. These appearances come less than two weeks after Rankin releases her first solo album, A Fine Line, and the lead-off single and video, a cover of the 1985 Tears For Fears chart-topper “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.”

“I love that song,” Rankin told The Reporter during an interview from her Mabou home base.

“It follows the same thread as the rest of the songs [on the album] – how do we succeed in life without losing our integrity and maintaining balance?”
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Heather Rankin – That Fine Line

Cash Box Magazine Canada
Submitted by Bill King

We’ve visited places and declare never to return or check off a wish list. Then there is the unexpected – a place of authentic magic – a place we develop a surreal affection for. Sometimes it’s just the nature of things – others, the people and surroundings and others – all three. Cape Breton is my north, North America land love.

September 21, 2004 Ivan’s Hurricane force winds tapped Cape Breton. I had the marvellous opportunity to drive the long winding mountainous cliffs that rise over the rolling seas and travel the interior – the Cabot Trail – then hang tight through Hurricane Ivan – play chicken with a fierce ocean and meet the people. It’s the terrain and warm embraces – the picturesque villages that color memories trimmed in the eloquent natural light of a Vermeer painting.
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A fine line for Mabou’s Heather Rankin

Cape Breton Post
Renowned singer-songwriter set to release debut solo album
SYDNEY — A veteran of the stage and studio, Heather Rankin is embarking on a new chapter in a career that’s been as diverse as it is successful.

More than 25 years after she rose to fame as a member of The Rankin Family, the Mabou native is set to release her debut solo album, “A Fine Line,” this Friday — kicking off a very busy April for the renowned Cape Breton singer, songwriter and actor.

In the works for three years, Rankin said she’s excited to get the album in the hands of fans.

“I’ve waited all this time and it’s finally here,” said Rankin, in an interview with the Cape Breton Post, Monday, just days ahead of the release.

Rankin said crafting her first solo musical project was a very different experience from recording as a member of The Rankin Family alongside siblings, Cookie, Jimmy, and the late John Morris and Raylene. Stepping outside her comfort zone, Rankin said it was both “terrifying and liberating” to go it alone on a solo album.
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Eclectic spring lineup for Glasgow Square

The Advocate
NEW GLASGOW – Glasgow Square has announced a spring lineup that includes everything from music to dance and everything in between.
“We are very excited to host such an eclectic and high calibre line up for the spring season, “ says Carlton Munroe, Program & Events manager for the Town of New Glasgow.
“The Square is going to be bursting with music, theatre and dance. We are proud to offer top notch East Coast talent along with local performances and talent that rivals the best in the province.”
Kicking off the new season on April 2 is singer-songwriter Ashley George of Pictou who is releasing a new acoustic CD, “The Puzzle,” in a performance at the Green Room.
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Rule the world with Heather Rankin — here’s how

February 26, 2016
By ANDREA NEMETZ
Local Xpress

Want to rule the world with Heather Rankin?

The singer, who sold more than one million albums with her siblings as part of beloved Cape Breton group The Rankin Family, is set to release her first solo album, A Fine Line, on April 1.

The debut single, a cover of Tears for Fears’ 1985 hit Everybody Wants to Rule the World featuring Halifax hip-hop artist Quake Matthews, is already available. The pair soon head into the studio to film the music video, and Rankin is asking people to become part of it.

“Make it short, make it fun, make it awesome,” she says in her online invitation to fans to submit seven to 10 second clips.

Clips are due on Feb. 29 and Rankin says the invitation is open to everyone.

“We thought it would be a fun way to involve listeners and fans. People on social media have access to technology to tape themselves,” the energetic singer explains in a wide-ranging phone interview

“It can be anything that expresses how that particular person takes their power back.
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The Chronicle Herald – Heather Rankin offers solo album, A Fine Line

Heather Rankin has toured the world, won Junos and CCMAs and sold over a million records with her siblings as part of the Rankin Family.

She’s sung with Carly Simon, worked as an actor in theatre, film and television, and owns the popular Red Shoe Pub in Mabou.

Now she’s releasing a solo album.

A Fine Line is available for pre-order on iTunes and via her website.

To help kick things off, Rankin hosts a live question and answer session on Facebook on Thursday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Atlantic time.

Visit her official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/HeatherRankinMusic) and leave a question for her in the comments of the Q & A post. She will answer as many questions as possible. Wait until 6:30 p.m. to post questions.

Truro Daily News – East Coast Music Awards back to Sydney

Well-known singer and member of the Rankin Family, Heather Rankin pretty much brought the house down when she told people attending a press conference in Sydney on Tuesday about how she felt about East Coast Music Week returning to Cape Breton from April 13-17.

For Rankin, who will host the main awards show on April 14 with Ashley MacIsaac, the East Coast Music Awards were pivotal in advancing the successful careers of Rankin Family members.

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The Cape Breton Post – Rankin, MacIsaac will host ECMA Gala in Sydney

SYDNEY — The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) announced today that Ashley MacIsaac and Heather Rankin will be hosts for the 2016 East Coast Music Awards Gala, taking place on Thursday, April 14 at Centre 200 in Sydney.

“It’s about time! What a blast it’s going to be hosting live from Cape Breton Island,” said MacIsaac of the hosting opportunity in a press release. “The ECMA has helped me profoundly and is a constant thread to a career that began at their events over 20 years ago. I’m indeed honoured to host alongside an important artist such as Heather Rankin — a giant in a gem’s figure.”

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The Coast – Ashley MacIsaac and Heather Rankin will host the ECMAs

The East Coast Music Association just announced that two top Cape Bretoners — fiddler Ashley MacIsaac and singer/actress Heather Rankin — will be hosting the 2016 East Coast Music Awards in Sydney, Nova Scotia this coming April. ECMA Week takes place from April 13 to 17, and the televised awards gala will be held at Centre 200 (home of the Screaming Eagles) on April 16. MacIsaac and Rankin will present East Coast music’s biggest annual awards alongside performances by nominees. The ECMAs were last held in Sydney in 2010.

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