The band called Ranky Tanky won the Grammy for best Regional Roots Album back in 2020.  The group is based in Charleston, SC, and their regional roots are in the Gullah music of the coastal southeastern states, the Sea Island music; their name comes from a Gullah phrase for “get funky”.  Gullah culture comes from the descendants of Africans captured along Africa’s rice coast [in West Africa], and while Gullah people today speak English, traditionally they’ve also spoken an African-American creole also called Gullah.

Ranky Tanky’s music is a kind of creole – a mix of jazz, American gospel, and soul, all with the through line of the original Gullah rhythms, game songs, praise songs, ring shouts, and songs of gratitude kept alive from slavery into the present day. Ranky Tanky has been nominated for another Grammy for their latest album, Live at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. They play in-studio for us, with all the joy they can bring.   

Set list: "Down in my Heart", "Beat 'Em Down", "Lift Me Up"

Watch "Down in my Heart":

Watch "Beat 'Em Down":

Watch "Lift Me Up":