Lowcountry folk band Ranky Tanky wins Grammy ‘bringing Gullah music to the world’

Ranky Tanky, a five-person folk band based in Charleston, took home a Grammy award Sunday night for best regional roots music album, according to the band’s publicity firm Shore Fire Media.

The band — which consists of Quentin Baxter on drums and percussion, Kevin Hamilton on bass, vocalist Quiana Parler, vocalist Clay Ross on guitar and vocalist Charlton Singleton on trumpet — performs music described as “soulful honey to the ears,” inspired by Gullah traditions that began in the South Carolina sea islands, according to its website.

The band’s winning album is titled “Good Time” and is its second release.

Gullah music, a centuries-old sound with strong roots in west African culture, was brought to South Carolina and Georgia during slavery and preserved throughout Reconstruction. Ranky Tanky’s Good Time includes “playful game songs, ecstatic shouts, and heartbreaking spirituals ... (The album) also offers the group’s first original songs inspired by Gullah tradition,” according to the band’s website.

“Since their formation, the Charleston five-piece Ranky Tanky have established themselves as global ambassadors for their tight-knit local community, bringing the West African-influenced sounds of the South Carolina Lowcountry around the world,” according to Shore Fire Media.

The band played with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in February 2019 and headlined the 2018 Juneteenth celebration at Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park.

Ranky Tanky will be in the Lowcountry next on March 12 for a show at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, where they’ll perform with The Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

Ranky Tanky has been praised by NPR for “bringing freshness and uplift to overlooked Americana,” and Garden & Gun have said “if Ranky Tanky doesn’t get you moving, you might want to check your heartbeat,” according to Shore Fire media.