Jimmy Rankin

James Kevin Rankin (born May 28, 1964) is a Canadian country and folk artist. A member of The Rankin Family, Rankin has also released eight solo albums: Song Dog, Handmade (2003), Edge of Day (2007), Forget About the World (2011), Tinsel Town (2012), Back Road Paradise (2014), Moving East (2018), and Harvest Highway (2023). Rankin's solo and Rankin Family awards include 5 Junos, 27 East Coast Music Awards, 9 SOCAN top radio play Awards, 7 Canadian Country Music Awards, 2 Music NS Awards, and 2 Canadian Radio Music Awards.

Early years Rankin was born in Mabou, Nova Scotia. He grew up as part of a musical family that would entertain the neighbors every third weekend as part of the local céilidh. This group became known as The Rankin Family and went on to achieve international success in the 1990s as they brought their well-loved mix of Cape Breton traditional music, roots and pop to the rest of the world.

Musical career 2001–2002: Song Dog After embarking on a solo career, Rankin released his debut album, Song Dog in August 2001. Three singles were released from the album, "Followed Her Around", "Midnight Angel", and "Wasted". "Followed Her Around" was named the "Single of the Year" award at the SOCAN Awards in 2002. The song also was named "Single of the Year" and "Video of the Year" from the East Coast Music Association. Song Dog was named "Album of the Year" at the Canadian Country Music Awards and at the East Coast Music Awards. In 2003, "Midnight Angel" was named "Single of the Year" and Rankin was named SOCAN Songwriter of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards.

2003–2004: Handmade Handmade was released in September 2003 and produced three singles, "Morning Bound Train", "Butterfly", and "California Dreamer". It was named "Album of the Year" and "Roots/Traditional Solo Recording of the Year" at the East Coast Music Awards in 2003. "Morning Bound Train" was named "Single of the Year" and Rankin was named SOCAN Songwriter of the Year at the ECMA's. "Butterfly" was named "Single of the Year" and "Video of the Year" at the ECMA's in 2005. Rankin also received SOCAN Songwriter of the Year for the song.

2006–2007: Edge of Day After a brief hiatus, Edge of Day was released in May 2007 and produced three singles, "Slipping Away", "Got to Leave Louisiana", and "Still Lovers Now". In 2008, Rankin was named Songwriter of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards for the song, "First Time in a Long Time" with Deric Ruttan. At the East Coast Music Awards, Edge of Day was named Country Recording of the Year, FACTOR Recording of the Year and Konica Minolta Male Solo Recording of the Year. He was also awarded SOCAN Songwriter of the Year for the song, "Slipping Away".

2011–2012: Forget About the World Forget About the World was released in April 2011 and has released three singles, "Here in My Heart", "I'm Just Saying", and "The Hurtin' Part". Forget About the World was nominated fore Juno for Country Recording of the Year and a record breaking 8 ECMAs including: Recording of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, Song of the Year, Video of the Year, Country Album of the Year, Video of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. In September 2011, Rankin won a CCMA for "Roots Artist of the Year" and in November 2011 he won the Music Nova Scotia "SOCAN Songwriter of the Year" Award as well as a SOCAN top radio play award for his song "Up All Night". The accolades continued in December with Rankin's fans naming him one of CBC Radio's Top 50 Artists of 2011. Rankin's song "Here in My Heart" was named the number one Canadian Country song of 2011 by Top Country. Rankin won "Roots Artist of the Year" for the second year in a row in September 2012.

2012–2013: Tinsel Town The Christmas themed album Tinsel Town was released on November 6, 2012. Rankin embarked on Cross-Canada tours in support of the effort in November and December 2012 and 2013. The album, produced by Bill Bell (Jason Mraz, Tom Cochrane), contains four original songs: "Tinseltown", "December", "Boogie Woogie Christmas", and "Don't Wanna Say Goodbye to Christmas". The CD package has a unique feature that allows it to be sent in the mail as a Christmas card.

2014–present: Back Road Paradise, Moving East and Harvest Highway Rankin released his sixth full-length album, Back Road Paradise, produced by Bill Bell, on April 1, 2014. Back Road Paradise features 12 brand-new Rankin compositions, including lead-off single "Cool Car" and duets with Grammy winner and bluegrass icon Alison Krauss, as well as Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy. After living and working in Nashville for seven years, Rankin returned to his home province of Nova Scotia. His next album, Moving East, was produced by Joel Plaskett and was issued in September 2018. It was his first album for True North Records. Rankin followed up this release with the album Harvest Highway in 2023.

Discography Albums Title Details Song Dog Release date: August 14, 2001 Label: Song Dog Music/Fontana North Handmade Release date: September 2, 2003 Label: Song Dog Music/Fontana North Edge of Day Release date: May 8, 2007 Label: Song Dog Music/Fontana North Forget About the World Release date: April 12, 2011 Label: Song Dog Music/Fontana North Tinsel Town Release date: November 6, 2012 Label: Song Dog Music/Fontana North Back Road Paradise Release date: April 1, 2014 Label: Song Dog Music/Fontana North Moving East Release date: September 28, 2018 Label: True North Harvest Highway Release date: October 13, 2023 Label: True North

Singles Year Single Peak positions Album CAN Country 2001 "Followed Her Around" * Song Dog 2002 "Midnight Angel" * "Wasted" * 2003 "Morning Bound Train" * Handmade 2004 "Butterfly" — "California Dreamer" — 2006 "Slipping Away" — Edge of Day 2007 "Got to Leave Louisiana" 20 "Still Lovers Now" — 2011 "Here in My Heart" 14 Forget About the World "I'm Just Saying" 31 2012 "The Hurtin' Part" 49 "Tinseltown" — Tinsel Town 2014 "Cool Car" 33 Back Road Paradise "Whiskey When the Sun Goes Down" — "—" denotes releases that did not chart"*" denotes releases where no chart existed

Other charted songs Year Single Peak positions Album CAN AC 2014 "Boogie Woogie Christmas" 44 Tinsel Town

Music videos Year Video Director 2001 "Followed Her Around" George Dougherty 2002 "Midnight Angel" David Hyde 2003 "Morning Bound Train" 2004 "Butterfly" Margaret Malandruccolo "California Dreamer" 2007 "Slipping Away" David Hogan 2011 "Here in My Heart" Jeth Weinrich "I'm Just Saying" 2012 "The Hurtin' Part" Margaret Malandruccolo 2014 "Cool Car" "Whiskey When the Sun Goes Down" Stephano Barberis 2018 "Been Away"

Awards and nominations Year Association Category Result 2002 Canadian Radio Music Awards Best New Solo Artist (Adult Contemporary) Best New Solo Artist (Country) Canadian Country Music Awards Album of the Year – Song Dog Roots Artist/Group of the Year East Coast Music Awards Album of the Year – Song Dog Country Artist/Group of the Year Male Artist of the Year Single of the Year – "Followed Her Around" SOCAN Songwriter of the Year – "Followed Her Around" (with Gordie Sampson) Video of the Year – "Followed Her Around Juno Awards of 2002 Best Country Artist/Group Nova Scotia Music Awards Music Industry Artist of the Year Songwriter of the Year SOCAN Awards Single of the Year – "Followed Her Around" 2003 Canadian Country Music Awards Roots Artist/Group of the Year East Coast Music Awards Single of the Year – "Midnight Angel" SOCAN Songwriter of the Year – "Midnight Angel" 2004 Canadian Country Music Awards Roots Artist/Group of the Year East Coast Music Awards Album of the Year – Handmade Entertainer of the Year Male Artist of the Year Roots/Traditional Solo Recording of the Year – Handmade Single of the Year – "Morning Bound Train" SOCAN Songwriter of the Year – "Morning Bound Train" 2005 Entertainer of the Year Single of the Year – "Butterfly" SOCAN Songwriter of the Year – "Butterfly" Video of the Year – "Butterfly" 2007 Canadian Country Music Awards Roots Artist/Group of the Year 2008 Songwriter of the Year – "First Time in a Long Time" (with Deric Ruttan) East Coast Music Awards Country Recording of the Year – Edge of Day FACTOR Recording of the Year – Edge of Day Konica Minolta Male Solo Recording of the Year – Edge of Day SOCAN Songwriter of the Year – "Slipping Away" 2011 Canadian Country Music Awards Roots Artist/Group of the Year Nova Scotia Music Awards SOCAN Songwriter of the Year – "Here in My Heart" 2012 Juno Awards of 2012 Country Album of the Year – Forget About the World East Coast Music Awards Fan's Choice Video of the Year Canadian Country Music Awards Roots Artist/Group of the Year 2014 Roots Artist/Group of the Year