Gullah Music of the Carolina Coast
Ranky Tanky makes joy sound like a responsibility. The two-time Grammy Award winning quintet from Charleston, South Carolina featuring Quiana Parler (vocals), Charlton Singleton (trumpet, vocals), Clay Ross (guitar, vocals), Kevin Hamilton (bass), and Quentin E. Baxter (drums, percussion), draws on the living well of Gullah music from the Sea Islands and carries it forward with jazz verve, gospel fire, blues feeling, and soul-deep groove. Their very name, from the Gullah language, means “work it” or “get funky,” which is exactly what they do: turn ring shouts, children’s game songs, work songs, and spirituals into modern American music that moves both body and memory.
Formed in 2016, Ranky Tanky broke through with a self-titled debut that rose to No. 1 on Billboard’s Jazz chart, proof that a music rooted in community could also top the national conversation. Coverage followed on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross and NBC’s TODAY, milestones that introduced Gullah’s cadences and stories to an even wider audience.
Good Time (2019) expanded the canon with originals inspired by tradition and earned the band its first Grammy for Best Regional Roots Music Album in 2020, the first time an album of Gullah music received that honor. In 2023, Ranky Tanky captured their onstage electricity with Live at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and won the category again, becoming the most awarded group in its history.
As cultural stewards and world-class performers, the band has brought Gullah music to major platforms including PBS NewsHour and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s #PlayAtHome, where the charge is simple and urgent: celebrate, remember, repair, and… dance.
The band’s newest single, and title track off their upcoming album, “This Village” is out now. “The song speaks on love and the spirit of the culture, the generosity, the shoulder to shoulder, the helping one another out, and actually having one another’s backs, even when you need your own back had,” says Baxter; who also serves as Producer on both the title track and full album. “'This Village' really means a lot to me. It’s about family and community. Growing up in a small community in a small town, everyone knew each other. It’s about standing strong, being together as one and unity. That’s what 'This Village' means to me,” says Parler, who shares lead vocals on the song with writer Singleton.
On this new album, ‘This Village’ (July 17, 2026), Ranky Tanky have returned with more of their own original music than ever before - steeped in the rich traditions of the Gullah community. They are joined on the album by legendary multi-time GRAMMY winner Lisa Fischer for two interpretations of classics: a cover of Bill Withers’ “Grandma’s Hands,” and their own arrangement of the traditional “Pick'n Po Robin” (featured prominently in the recent Sinners soundtrack). Each of the five band members participated in the writing process on This Village, with additional collaborators including GRAMMY Award-winning engineers Vance Powell (Sputnik Sound - Chris Stapleton, Jack White), Elliott Elsey (Truphonic Recording) and Vlado Meller (Vlado Meller Mastering), as well as Demetrius Doctor (piano, string arrangement - This Village). With the new album, Ranky Tanky look to build on a sound that has already brought them so many of the accomplishments mentioned above.
Quentin Baxter / Drums and Percussion
Kevin Hamilton / Bass
Quiana Parler / Vocalist
Clay Ross / Guitar and Vocals
Charlton Singleton / Trumpet and Vocals
