Charleston’s Ranky Tanky Wins Second Grammy Award

Credit: Benjo Arwas
(posted to Ranky Tanky’s Facebook Page)

Three years after winning their first Grammy Award, Charleston band Ranky Tanky on Sunday won their second for Best Regional Roots Music Album for Live at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (you can listen to the album below). The record was released on December 14th of last year.

Started by College of Charleston alumnus Clay Ross, the band takes a modern approach to the traditional sounds of Gullah music. The band features Ross on vocals and guitar, Quentin Baxter on drums, Kevin Hamilton on bass, Charlton Singleton on trumpet and vocals, and Quiana Parler on vocals. Ross, Baxter and Hamilton all majored in music at the College of Charleston and are South Carolina natives – as is Singleton.

Ranky Tanky (a Gullah phrase for “get funky”) are five lifelong friends from Charleston who have established themselves as passionate global ambassadors for their local culture and community, helping to preserve the traditions originated by African Americans in the coastal South during slavery that are kept alive through the present day.  The band was a featured artist in President Joe Biden’s inauguration event, “We The People.” They were also 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.

If you’d like to see the band perform live, you can catch them at the Charleston Music Hall on Friday, June 2nd at 8 pm.

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