Rawlins Cross, one of Canada’s most accomplished and beloved Celtic rock bands, are hitting the road in support of their recent release, Rock Steady. Released in December, this is their ninth studio project and one of the most personal, with six original tracks being written by the band. The month-long tour supporting the new album kicked off earlier this month and makes a stop at the Highland Arts Theatre in Sydney on Saturday, April 28.
¨We are really looking forward to sharing the new songs from our Rock Steady recording in a live setting,” says founding member, guitar and mandolin playing Dave Panting. “Our audiences can look forward to a tight show featuring a great mix of Rawlins classics and new material.”
Rawlins Cross made a name for themselves on the East Coast music scene more than 25 years ago with their album A Turn of the Wheel, and, through the years, has released a total of nine albums, and toured extensively throughout Canada, the United States and Europe, resulting in two JUNO nominations and countless ECMA wins. With their fusion of Celtic traditional, rock and world music, Rawlins Cross never fail to electrify their faithful fans.
Rawlins Cross was formed in St. John’s, Newfoundland in the late 1980s by songwriting brothers Dave Panting (guitar and mandolin) and Geoff Panting (keyboards and accordion), and Ian McKinnon (highland pipes and tin whistle). Since then, Rawlins Cross has been at the vanguard of the fusion of Celtic traditional music with the rhythms of rock, pop and worldbeat music. Equally at ease with a soulful Highland Air (“MacPherson’s Lament”) or a raucous party song (“Colleen”, “Reel ‘n’ Roll”, “Rock Steady”), Rawlins Cross never fails to electrify its faithful fans. Over its nearly 30-year run, Rawlins Cross has always been a “fan favourite” on the North American and European concert and festival circuits.
The band burst onto the East Coast recording scene in late ’89 with its first indie recording, A Turn of the Wheel and a video for the single “Colleen”. Just weeks after its release, “Colleen” scored a top ten radio slot on Toronto’s influential CFNY station and Rawlins Cross was on its way.
In 1992, the band released Crossing The Border, which further developed the ground-breaking fusion of highland bagpipes, mandolin and accordion with a rocking rhythm section. A year later the band recorded Reel ‘n’ Roll, which would prove to be its best-selling commercial success and launch a national radio hit with the title track. With the solid rhythm section of Halifax bassist Brian Bourne and Ontario-based drummer Howie Southwood, Rawlins Cross enlisted PEI singer Joey Kitson to complete its signature sound.
Already one of the top concert draws in the region, and with a growing fanbase across Canada and in Europe, Rawlins Cross released Living River in 1995, which garnered two Juno Award nominations. The band toured Canada three times that year and signed a licensing deal for its music in Europe.
During that period Rawlins Cross performed live on the nationally-televised East Coast Music Awards before an audience of two million viewers.
The band expanded its international audience by headlining the 9th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Festival in Germany and also representing Canada at the Expo Cumbre de las Americas in Santiago, Chile.
Two more albums followed: Celtic Instrumentals in 1997, a retrospective collection and the studio album Make It On Time, which would prove to be the band’s last album for more than a decade. With total album sales topping 100,000 units, Rawlins Cross has been one of the region’s most successful bands.
In 2008 Rawlins Cross reunited after a several year hiatus and released Anthology, a compilation of its best recorded songs. InfFall 2010, the band released Heart Head Hands (GroundSwell/ Warner Music) [READ REVIEW HERE]. This marked the band’s first full album release in 12 years. Around that time, the band performed for Queen Elizabeth II at a large outdoor event in Halifax.
Rawlins Cross, has, again, rekindled their magic with their six-track EP, Rock Steady. Co-produced by Jon Landry and Geoff Panting, this collection of new songs along with a string of successful festival performances, has added some spring to the step of this venerable East Coast act.
Tickets for Saturday night’s show are available at the Highland Arts Theatre box office, by phone at 902-565-3637 and online. Showtime is 8PM.
