They may have shortened their name and hired a Grammy Award-winning Nashville producer for their latest album.

But make no mistake: The Rankins -- formerly The Rankin Family -- are the same singing-and-dancing powerhouse that, over the past nine years, has gradually won the hearts of Canadians from sea to shining sea.

Their free show last night at the Coca-Cola venue on the Stampede Grounds was a wholesome, feel-good affair that thrilled the thousands of fans who packed themselves like canned sardines around the stage.

The concert started on a sprightly note with Rovin' Gypsy Boy, a high-spirited Celtic sing-along, and Long Way To Go, one of several relatively straightforward country songs on their new CD Uprooted.

However, no matter how conventionally "country" The Rankins try to be, they could never be mistaken for an American act thanks to their Cape Breton accents, which saturate their music like a Maritime salt-water mist.

Then again, the fivesome didn't seem too anxious to be assimilated into the Nashville country music scene.

Many of Jimmy's vocal numbers paid a big debt to Canadian folk tradition, while Cookie, Heather and Raylene continued to apply their crisp, pure harmonies to the traditional Gaelic songs they grew up listening to.

Tonight on the Coca-Cola Stage: Vonda Shepard