Edmonton, AB - January 25, 2007, Jubilee Auditorium

Rankins Rise Again - By Jenny Feniak - Edmonton Sun

The Rankins proved not only passionate but true professionals during a performance in Edmonton Thursday night.

Heavy, red velvet curtains framed the Jubilee Auditorium stage where Jimmy, Cookie, Raylene and Heather Rankin reunited in song - after almost a decade.

The Rankins' reunion performance was not only warm and wonderful, but an emotional occasion as the family banded together with the music that's defined their Maritime life, while mourning the loss of two siblings.

Nothing of this was mentioned immediately and The Rankins appeared positive, each offering a classic and familiar song to a crowd who knows and loves them.

Absent from the reunited group was their eldest brother and fiddler John Morris Rankin, who died in a car crash only a few months after the family called it quits in 1999.

Eventually, the other siblings left Raylene at the microphone to acknowledge the death of their sister Geraldine just days before the reunion tour kicked off.

"We're mourning the loss of both of them and no words can describe our sorrow,'' she said before leaving the stage as the lights dimmed.

With a five-piece band on stage, a beautiful piano instrumental picked up, paying homage to Geraldine's musical role in the Rankin Family's first incarnation in the '70s.

The siblings joined each other back on stage for another sombre number before renewing their upbeat spirit with the introduction of their newest member - Molly Rankin.

The 19-year-old appeared with a guitar and did Sunsets, her original contribution to the new album. The musical gene didn't miss her and as the new voice soared, her aunts and uncle beamed proudly from the shadows.

After her moment in the spotlight, Molly swapped her guitar for a fiddle, a talent handed down to her by her late father John Morris.

Raylene, Heather and Jimmy each sang songs from the Rankins' most successful album, Fare Thee Well Love, while Cookie introduced the crowd to their new album, Rankin Family Reunion, singing David Francey's rousing Sunday Morning.

Jimmy let the crowd know the album was not only being sold after the show, but they would be there to greet fans and sign autographs. With a bit of a chuckle, he continued with shameless self-promotion for his own solo album, Edge of Days, and played a very un-Celtic track called Slipping Away.

Even with the unquestionable grief the family was feeling, they have been professional musicians all their lives and showed it. The rest of the concert was full of life as Raylene jigged and the crowd clapped along.

They had an exceptional encore ready to go for the adoring crowd, which included Raylene's "companion song" and the unofficial Cape Breton anthem Rise Again.

The Rankins closed out with The Departing Song, an unrecorded number from the group's past that Jimmy reworked for all the voices and a perfect close.

The Rankins' stage presence and etiquette are absolutely polished and together they possess something magical none could produce alone.