Because his name has "rank" in it, we had Jimmy Rankin "rank'' his favourite things to do on the weekend. Then, we dipped his CD Song Dog in the Oilers' big sack of "rank" sweat socks.

OK, none of that really happened, nor would it in 10,000 years. But we did ask Jimmy about being artist of the year at the East Coast Music Awards this year in the country category. Especially because he's not really a country artist, eh.

"Well, the nice thing about Canada is that, for me, my music is hard to classify. I'm just kind of glad they found a place for me at all," the singer says on the phone from home, advancing his shows with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the Winspear Centre tonight and tomorrow.

But wait. A brief history of the band once known as the Rankin Family might be in order. After changing their name to the Rankins, the five Cape Breton siblings ultimately decided they'd made their point, and split off from each other in 1999. Then, shortly after, Jimmy's older brother, John Morris Rankin, died in a car crash in early 2000.

The accident blew Jimmy away, understandably, but some of the emotional weight did show up in the award-winning, and actually quite excellent, Song Dog. He also picked up roots artist of the year at the Canadian Country Music Awards to complicate things with some level of needed accuracy. He is a roots artist, no doubt about that one.

But Rankin is happy to first talk about the exploits of his siblings, who have since put together a new act ... sort of.

"They do shows together under the name the Rankin Sisters. Obviously, I can't join that group. They haven't made a record or anything. During the Rankin days they used to sing as a trio - they've been playing together for decades, so it's no big deal. I have a feeling from talking to them they're going to end up doing something, album-wise. And I know Raylene wants to do a solo album in the Rankin style."

Jimmy, meanwhile, realizes the machine needs feeding.

"I'm basically culminating material for another record. Next thing I do, I'm going out and doing these shows with Keith Urban and Carolyn Dawn Johnson (in Edmonton Feb. 23, venue TBA). I met Keith at the CCMAs in Calgary. He was a fan, so he came up for a chat and a bunch of us ended up going to the hotel where we had a big jam session. About 150 people showed up to watch and I heard a lot of critics said it was the highlight of the CCMAs. I left there about 3 a.m., but I heard it went on till 5 or 6.

"It was really cool. I don't do enough of it. Just a bunch of guys sitting around, talking about their songs."

You may be able to see some of that tonight at the Winspear. It may, um, "rank" highly on your list of favourite shows. OK, enough.