Biography
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Years Active
1988 – present (36 years)
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Founded In
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Members
- Dave Panting
- Geoff Panting (1988 – present)
Rawlins Cross is a Canadian 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 intersection in St. John's, Newfoundland.
The band was formed 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, Wild Rose, Reel 'n' Roll), Rawlins Cross never fails to electrify its faithful fans. Rawlins Cross is always a “fan favorite” on the North American and European music festival circuit consistently earning return engagements.
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 1996, which garnered two Juno Award nominations. The band toured Canada three times that year and signed a licencing deal for its music in Europe.
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.
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".
Instrumentation
Joey Kitson — lead vocals, harmonica
Dave Panting — mandolin, guitar, banjo, harmonica, bouzouki, background vocals, songwriting
Geoff Panting — accordion, keyboard, background vocals, songwriting
Ian McKinnon — bagpipe, tin whistle, bodhran, trumpet, percussion, jaw harp
Brian Bourne — Chapman Stick, bass, background vocals
Howie Southwood — drums
Discography
Anthology (2008)
Make it on Time (1998)
Celtic Instrumentals (1997)
Living River (1996)
Reel 'N' Roll (1993)
Crossing the Border (1992)
A Turn of the Wheel (1989)
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