[embed-1]
Ranky Tanky just keeps one-upping themselves. At last night’s 62nd annual Grammy Awards, the Lowcountry Gullah band took home the Grammy for best Regional Roots Album for their 2019 LP Good Time.
“It’s an honor to be here to stand on the shoulders of our Gullah ancestry and bring this music and message to the world,” Charlton Singleton said in the band’s acceptance speech.
This was Ranky Tanky’s first nomination for a Grammy and the win comes just two years after the band’s 2017 album, Ranky Tanky, peaked on the Billboard Jazz Charts at No. 1.
Ranky Tanky’s momentum has been hard to stop since the band formed in 2016. They grabbed the local attention almost immediately thanks to their funky interpretation of traditional Gullah songs. Plus, the band was made up of Lowcountry music heroes: Singleton on trumpet, Quentin and Calvin Baxter on drums, Quiana Parler on vocals, Kevin Hamilton on bass, and Clay Ross on guitar.
[content-1] After releasing their 2017 self-titled album, the band’s touring schedule and some high-profile performances took Gullah music far beyond the South Carolina borders. Good Time in 2019 gave the band more material to run with and a Grammy nomination soon after the album’s release.
The band’s success led Mayor John Tecklenburg to commemorate Dec. 17 as Ranky Tanky Day in the city of Charleston.
We’re not really sure how Ranky Tanky will go beyond this most recent success marker, but the Grammy win continues to add hype to the band’s upcoming hometown show in March at the Gaillard Center.
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No newspaper subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations from downtown to North Charleston to Johns Island to Summerville to Mount Pleasant.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.