Originally published in The Chronicle Herald on March 6, 2020
By Dan MacDonald
Halifax, Nova Scotia
I mentioned some time back that I had taken in the Rawlins Cross concert at the Highland Arts Theatre in downtown Sydney. It was a wonderful, well-attended show.
The show was part of the tour the veteran band did to promote its latest CD, “Flying Colours.”
The CD contains only seven cuts, but all are great. There are a couple of songs that have been around for a while, mostly heard in their live performances. The rest is new material, a total of six vocals and a lovely instrumental (“Course Correction”) composed by Ian McKinnon.
I enjoy the whimsey of “I Wonder,” a bouncy number with a walking pace beat, while “You Know Me Better Than That,” is a horse of a different colour. The lovely waltz timing is offset by the message — the breakup of a relationship.
“Been A Long Time” touches on the regrets of a relationship that wasn’t quite there and the doubts that go with meeting up again while “Without You” is just the opposite, the story of a successful ongoing relationship, with a great backbeat and “Island Nights” is an interesting musical mix, the sound swaying back and forth with McKinnon’s whistle weaving in and out.
This is vintage Rawlins Cross, in a new sort of way.
