The band Ranky Tanky on the porch of an old cabin. Photo credit Peter Frank Edwards.
This Grammy Award-winning, Charleston, SC-based quintet performs timeless music born from the Gullah culture of the southeastern Sea Islands. Playful game songs, ecstatic shouts, and heartbreaking spirituals can all be found on their latest release Good Time, which also offers the group’s first original songs inspired by Gullah tradition.
Ranky Tanky have achieved many firsts for South Carolina’s West African-rooted Gullah community since their formation, earning yet another milestone at the 2019 GRAMMY Awards by taking home the Best Regional Roots Album prize for their sophomore release, Good Time. The album, which also hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Chart, combines songs carried down through generations in the Sea Islands of the Southeastern United States with the band’s own original compositions in the Gullah tradition. In Ranky Tanky's hands, this style of music has been described as "soulful honey to the ears" (NPR) while being covered by the New York Times, NPR’s Fresh Air and The TODAY Show, who had the band on for a performance.
Ranky Tanky. Photo - Jay Gilbert
Ranky Tanky (a Gullah phrase for “get funky”) are five lifelong friends from Charleston, South Carolina who have established themselves as passionate global ambassadors for their local culture and community, helping to faithfully preserve the traditions originated by African Americans in the coastal South during slavery that are kept alive through the present day. The band have been featured on NPR's Fresh Air, The Today Show, PBS Newshour and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert #playathome. Ranky Tanky were honored to be featured artists in President Biden’s inauguration event, We The People. They were the subjects of a 10-page profile in Oxford American’s South Carolina Music Issue and were named 2020 Artist of The Year by the Charleston City Paper.
WATCH
Ranky Tanky performs Freedom on The TODAY Show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_eu0_ZFgIk
LISTEN
Spotify playlist
READ MORE:
This in-depth article on the band in “Garden & Gun” By ALLISON GLOCK, February/March 2019
Note - this link will take you away from eastalabamaarts.org.
https://gardenandgun.com/feature/ranky-tanky-keeping-faith/