Grammy Award-winning Ranky Tanky to perform at Farmville's Paramount Theater

The Grammy Award-winning group Ranky Tanky will perform in Farmville next week as the Pitt County Arts Council’s African American Music Series takes its show on the road.

The Charleston, South Carolina-based quintet specializes in jazz-influenced arrangements of traditional Gullah music, a culture that originated among descendants of enslaved Africans in the Lowcountry region of the Southeast. The name Ranky Tanky comes from a Gullah expression that, loosely translated, means “get funky.”

Due to its relative geographic isolation, the Sea Islands region preserved more of the West African rhythms, dialects and musical traditions than the mainland United States. Once combined with British colonial influence, this emerged as a distinct Gullah culture. The Gullah lyrics and melodies that Ranky Tanky uses range from traditional spirituals to children’s rhymes and dance music.

“They add in a lot of new instruments, fusing jazz into that Gullah tradition,” said Sarah Lazure, marketing and exhibits director for Emerge Gallery and Art Center. “They’re super fun, energetic.”

The band earned its first Grammy in 2020 for its 2019 LP “Good Time,” which led to international recognition. It won a second Grammy in 2023 for Best Regional Roots Music Album for a live album recorded during the band’s April 2022 performance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Three of the group’s members, Quentin Baxter (percussion), Kevin Hamilton (bass), Clay Ross (guitar and vocals), met while studying music at the College of Charleston. They later added Charlton Singleton (trumpet and vocals) from South Carolina State University to form the Charleston jazz quartet The Gradual Lean in the late 1990s. After pursuing individual careers for two decades, the group came back together and brought Quiana Parler on board as lead vocalist. The group’s aim was to explore Gullah music, a cultural tradition from which Baxter, Hamilton, and Singleton have roots.

The free concert, presented in conjunction with Farmville Community Arts Council, will be performed at 7 p.m. March 8 at Paramount Theater, 3723 N. Main St., Farmville. Ranky Tanky’s performance and residency is funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council.

The Pitt County Arts Council’s African American Music Series’ current season continues with monthly performances through May. Visit emergegallery.com/events/music-series for more information.