Rawlins Cross is a Celtic band that formed in 1988 in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

. With members from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario, the band took its name from an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

in St. John's,

Formation and early history

Rawlins Cross was formed in St. John's in the late 1980's by songwriting brothers Dave Panting (guitar and mandolin), Geoff Panting (keyboards and accordion) and Ian McKinnon (highland pipes and tin whistle). They then added drummer Pamela Paton and bassist Lorne Taylor to the band. The band started in the East Coast recording scene in late 1989 with its first Indie recording, ''A Turn of the Wheel'' and a video for the single "Colleen." Weeks after its release, "Colleen" had a top ten radio slot on Toronto's CFNY station. In 1991, Lorne Taylor left the band, with Derek Pelley briefly replacing Taylor on bass. Prior to the recording of their sophomore album, ''Crossing The Border'', Pamela Paton left in late 1991, to be replaced by Tom Roach. Bassist Derek Pelley left in early 1992, and was replaced by Brian Bourne.

Popularity and mainstream success

In 1992, the band released ''Crossing The Border'', which further developed the fusion of highland bagpipes, mandolin and accordion with a rhythm section. A year later, after Rawlins Cross brought in drummer Howie Southwood, the band recorded ''Reel 'n' Roll'', which would be its best-selling album and launch a national radio hit with the title track. Prior to the recording of ''Reel 'n' Roll'', Prince Edward Island singer

Joey Kitson Joey Kitson (born ) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer of the Celtic rock band Rawlins Cross. Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Kitson is also a stage performer, with notable performances in the Charlottetown Festiva ...

joined the band as the new lead singer. Prior to Kitson joining the band, guitarist Dave Panting sang lead vocals for the band on the albums, ''A Turn of the Wheel'' and ''Crossing The Border''. Rawlins Cross released ''Living River'' in 1996, which garnered two Juno Award nominations. The band toured Canada three times that year and signed a licensing deal for its music in Europe. Rawlins Cross performed live on the nationally televised East Coast Music Awards and performed at the ninth annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration Festival in Germany and also represented Canada at the Expo Cumbre de las Americas in Santiago, Chile. Two more albums followed: ''Celtic Instrumentals'' in 1997, a retrospective collection, and the 1998 studio album ''Make It On Time'', which would prove to be the band's last album for more than a decade. Following a six-year hiatus, Rawlins Cross reunited in the fall of 2008 and released its seventh recording, ''Anthology''. In November 2010, they released their eighth album, ''Heart Head Hands''. Their next recording, ''Rock Steady'', was recorded at Codapop Studios (in Halifax, Nova Scotia) and released in December 2017 with the single, "Hold You Tonight".

Style

Rawlins Cross mixed Scottish, Irish, Celtic, and Rock'n'Roll elements. Their style ranged from Celtic-instrumental to blues to folk, always with a strong rhythmic feeling, and combined contemporary song stylings with traditional instrumentation and story elements. The principal songwriters were brothers Dave and Geoff Panting. After vocalist Joey Kitson joined the band in 1993, a number of the songs on the first two CDs, including "Turn Of the Wheel", "MacPherson's Lament", "Colleen" and "Open Road" were recorded again with Kitson singing lead, and released on subsequent recordings.

Band members

— lead vocals,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

(1993–present) *Dave Panting —

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, harmonica, bouzouki, background vocals, songwriting (1988–present), lead vocals (1988-1993) *Geoff Panting —

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, keyboard, background vocals, songwriting (1988–present) *Ian McKinnon — bagpipe, tin whistle, bodhran, trumpet, percussion, jaw harp (1988–present) *Brian Bourne — Chapman Stick,

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, background vocals (1992–present) *Howie Southwood —

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(1993–present)

Former band members

*Pamela Paton — drums (1988-1991) *Lorne Taylor —

(1988-1991) *Derek Pelley — bass (1991-1992) *Tom Roach — drums (1991-1993)

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

* 1997

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

s ** Nominations *** Best Roots/Traditional Album - ''

Living River ''Living River'' is a 1996 folk album by Rawlins Cross Rawlins Cross is a Celtic band that formed in 1988 in Atlantic Canada. With members from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario, the band took its name from an int ...

'' *** Best Album Design - ''Living River'' * 1999 East Coast Music Awards ** Winner *** Best Roots/Traditional ** Nominations *** Entertainer of the Year *** Best Group of the Year

References

External links

Rawlins Cross
Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlins Cross Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Musical groups reestablished in 2008 Musical groups from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian folk rock groups Canadian Celtic music groups Celtic rock groups 1988 establishments in Newfoundland and Labrador