Over the course of nearly thirty years and eight albums Rawlins Cross have established themselves as one of Canada’s most accomplished and beloved Celtic rock bands. They’ve been nominated for two JUNO awards and won countless ECMAs. Now they’re back at it again with a new single, ‘Hold You Tonight’.
After getting their start in the late 80s, the band released their debut album A Turn Of The Wheel in 1989. Their second album, Crossing The Border, affirmed their ability to combine traditional elements of pipes, accordions and tin whistles, along with more modern rock elements. It was Reel ‘n’ Roll, their third album, which brought them commercial success and national radio play, while Living River, released in 1995, was the one to earn them critical acclaim with two Juno Award nominations.
Now, twenty-eight years after their first album, and following a seven year spell without a release, we’re expecting their newest six-track EP, Rocky Steady, out this December. Co-produced by Jon Landry (The Stanfields) and Rawlins Cross’ own Geoff Panting (keyboards and accordion), the album is being released via GroundSwell Music.
The band describe their efforts with the six-track EP as rekindling their magic, but in the long tradition of celtic music, the first single, ‘Hold You Tonight‘, is really the age old tale of the synthesis of oxytocin via tin whistle. The band are beckoning to a love lost and rekindled after a long absence, perhaps that of their audience. They’re hitting all bases as they try to lure us in, but like the juxtaposition of banjos and accordions, and promises of Sam Cooke, it’s perhaps a union that was never meant to be. For all that, we’re told they’ve got somewhere else to be, and someone else to be with.
Maybe that’s what has kept them from producing an album these last seven years.
Rawlins Cross new EP, Rock Steady, is set to be released December 1st, 2017.