Heather Rankin ~ Sounds of Cape Breton
219 Main Street
SOUNDS OF CAPE BRETON with HEATHER RANKIN is a musical journey of stories and song from her roots growing up in a musical family in Mabou, sharing her culture internationally with The Rankin Family, to writing her own music and continuing to strengthen her ties to her Gaelic language and heritage.
Heather is best known as a singer, songwriter, actor, and member of the 6X Juno Award winning band The Rankin Family. As a solo artist she has released two albums, A Fine Line (ECMA/Juno Nom.) and Imagine (ECMA Nom.) Her music video for “We Walk As One” (dir. Scott Simpson) was nominated for ECMA’s Fan’s Choice Video of the Year and her music video for “Titanically” (dir. Thom Fitzgerald) was nominated for ECMA and Music Nova Scotia Awards for Video of the Year. She has taken her solo show to venues across the country, including headlining the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival, hosting Songwriters’ Circles at ECMA Week and at the Nova Scotia SummerFest, performing with the Cape Breton Orchestra at Celtic Colours, with Symphony NS, and with the Calgary Philharmonic. In February 2020 she brought her music to Celtic Connections in Glasgow. Since 2018 she has also been performing with Nova Scotian powerhouses Bette MacDonald, Lucy MacNeil, and Jenn Sheppard with their show Island Girls: a unique comedic and musical salute to Cape Breton. Heather was nominated for a 2019 ECMA for Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year. In 2017 Heather was named a Canada 150 Ambassador and she took part in the Canada C3 Expedition on Leg 2 between Montréal and Baie Comeau, where she co-wrote the song “River of Nations” with Alex Cuba and Andrea Menard. She has recorded and performed with many artists including The Chieftains, Johnny Reid, and Carly Simon. In addition to her live shows, Heather has recently been working with Bell TV On Demand on two different projects which showcase the culture and music traditions of Cape Breton..
Listen to Heather’s interview with Ashley-Rose and Nick on our QCCR radio show Stage & Screen.