Ranky Tanky with Ms Lisa Fischer

Ranky Tanky (a Gullah phrase for “get funky”), whose jazz-influenced arrangements of traditional Gullah music NPR calls “lively, soulful honey to the ears” joins forces with Grammy winner Lisa Fischer, who the Minneapolis Star Tribune says brings “soul, jazz, rock, gospel, folk, pop, and classical …  [and] cuts loose with funk and fierceness and rocks with abandon.”

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.

In 2023, Ranky Tanky took home the GRAMMY Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album, celebrating their second GRAMMY win in a four-year span. Celebrating the music of their West African-rooted Gullah community, Ranky Tanky were honored in 2023 for their first-ever live album — Live at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — which was captured during their debut at the iconic festival. Ranky Tanky previously took home Best Regional Roots Music Album in 2020 for their studio album Good Time, marking the first-ever GRAMMY Award win for an album of Gullah music. The five-piece have now won Best Regional Roots Album for two consecutive releases and become the most awarded group in the history of the category.

The 2023 GRAMMY win is just the latest accolade in a long line of “firsts” that Ranky Tanky has achieved for the music of the Gullah community. The five-piece also reached #1 on each of the Billboard, Amazon and iTunes jazz charts, brought their songs and stories to national television on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the TODAY Show and PBS Newshour — and even performed during President Joe Biden’s 2020 inauguration festivities.