Heather Rankin to perform old family favourites during mini Maritime tour

No matter how much time passes, love for Cape Breton musical group The Rankin Family lives on through generations of fans.

And fans will soon have a chance to see Heather Rankin perform some of her family’s beloved songs.

“It’s been a while since I’ve done a solo show, and so it felt like it was time to go out and do some stuff,” she says.

Her new, mini Maritime tour is appropriately called “Sounds of Cape Breton.”

There will be performances in all three Maritime provinces next month – starting on Valentines Day in Miramichi.

The shows are described as “a musical journey of songs and stories from her roots growing up in a musical family in Mabou, sharing her culture internationally with The Rankin Family, writing her own music and continuing to strengthen her ties to her Gaelic language and heritage.”

“I love Cape Breton and I always will,” Rankin says. “It’ll always be home -- deep roots.”

Concertgoers can expect a range of new and old songs, dancing, stories and more.

“I’m gonna dig into the old family well and do things like ‘Mary’s Wedding’ and ‘Tell My Ma,’” Rankin says.

She’ll also perform the Rankin Family tune “Gillis Mountain.”

“That’s my way of remembering Raylene, that was her composition,” Rankin says of her late sister, who died in 2012 of cancer.

“I’m always very proud of Rayleen when I sing that song.”

Rankin adds it “blows her mind” how much people love her family’s songs.

“It’s pretty incredible, it really says a lot about the music,” she says.

Upcoming Heather Rankin shows

• Feb. 14 – Miramichi, N.B., at Cafétéria Carrefour Communautaire Beausoleil
• Feb. 15 – Summerside, P.E.I., at the Harbourfront Theatre
• Feb. 16 – Riverview, N.B., at the Riverview Arts Centre
• Feb. 17 – Liverpool, N.S., at the Astor Theatre

More information can be found online.