Five Questions With Jimmy Rankin
Area 506’s Waterfront Concert Series continues this weekend in uptown Saint John.
Concert-goers will enjoy performances from Maritime royalty like Jimmy Rankin on Friday night and Classified on Saturday.
Since Area 506 is all about celebrating New Brunswick and Maritime pride, we’re asking some of this year’s headliners five questions about their favourite Maritime and New Brunswick memories and experiences.
First up is Jimmy Rankin, who recently spoke with Huddle associate editor, Cherise Letson.
Listen to their full chat in the player above and check out Rankin’s answers below:
Where is your favourite Maritime place to visit on vacation?
Man, I’ve been all over the Maritimes many times. But usually when I vacation in the summertime my favourite place to go is the home I have on the west side of Cape Breton, and it’s right on the ocean. That’s where I gravitate towards on my vacation time.
Other than that, as I said, I’ve been all over the Maritimes and there are so many beautiful places in this region it would be hard to really pick out one– other than Cape Breton.
What is your most memorable New Brunswick gig?
I’ve played so many shows all over New Brunswick. I love playing there and I’m really excited about this festival. I think I had so many good gigs with the Rankins there and my solo shows.
One of the most memorable was when I was opening a bunch of shows in Canada for John Prine years back. He hadn’t been to the Maritimes or maybe even Canada in like 20 years. Every place we played, It was just like people were flocking to see him. We did a show I think at the Coliseum and Moncton and there was so much excitement about that show. They were bussing people in from small communities and it was actually pretty amazing. Just the whole buzz around that whole tour. I remember them talking about bringing school buses of people in from different communities and it was just very exciting. I was excited and John Prine and his band were just totally blown away by it.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Saint John?
Saint John is a beautiful old historic port city, which I love. I love the water and I love old port towns that have beautiful architecture. The beautiful Imperial Theatre . . . I love that place.
The thing that comes to mind was the landmark when you’d be coming into Saint John was the old [general] hospital that used to be on the side of the hill.
It was Gothic. It was like Gotham. It was like Batman. It was this beautiful building and every time I drove by it, I used to imagine all of the people that pass through there. The people that were born there and passed away there, the people that had surgeries and the people that spend time there. I’m sorry they tore it down. It was such an incredible, beautiful, landmark building for that town. So when I think of Saint John, the first thing that would come to mind is that building. There are many other things, but that building right out of the gate.
What is your favourite song by a Maritime artist?
That’s a tough question. I don’t really have a favourite song. You know, there are songs I love to listen to and I’ll go back to them from time to time and the Maritimes has so many terrific songwriters from past and present. It’s really hard to pick anybody. There are different for different moods just like music in general.
One of my favourite songwriters from the Maritimes would be Ron Heinz. I have good memories of Ron, sharing a stage with him and hanging out with him.
But from time to time, I’ll go back to Ron’s records. He’s such a storyteller. There’s one time I was doing a gig in St. John’s, Newfoundland and I went to see Ron play after hours at the Rose and Thistle, I think the pub was called. He gave me a little demo and on it, he had songs like “A Good Dog Is Lost” and a bunch of others and there was one that stuck out in my mind called “1962.” So at the moment, “1962” by Ron Heinz.
What is your Maritime meal? Whether it’s something you make at home yourself or buy at a restaurant.
There are lots of things in the Maritimes I like. We have great seafood here. We have great oysters, great snow crab, lobster, groundfish.
I’m very fortunate. I’m a competent cook. I’m pretty good to cook. My wife’s a terrific cook. There’s one dish that she makes, it’s a garlic lobster pasta, with roasted garlic and a light touch of cream sometimes. That’s the first one that comes to mind.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.