The Charleston-based band pushes in new directions without losing sight of its Gullah heritage
Longtime friends and musicians (from left) Charlton Singleton, Quentin Baxter, Quiana Parler, Clay Ross, and Kevin Hamilton comprise Grammy Award-winning Ranky Tanky, whose name translates to “work it” or “get funky” in Gullah.
“I’m gonna spread my love and spread my joy/I’m gonna do my part,” sings Charlton Singleton on “Down in My Heart,” one of 16 songs on Ranky Tanky’s latest album. With This Village, the Charleston-based band expands beyond its celebrated reinterpretations of Gullah spirituals with material that feels timeless enough to be mistaken for classics.
“Lift Me Up”—written by guitarist Clay Ross and backed by a dare-you-to-sit-still groove from rhythm section Kevin Hamilton and Quentin Baxter—finds powerhouse vocalist Quiana Parler praying, “Show me Mercy, Show me Grace/Lord, yes I know, no one stands in your place.”
“That song hits!” says Baxter. “It’s a reach to say it’s an actual Gullah song, but the message is right back at home base. When you start with a song that lifts mankind and encourages fellowship, it’s similar to the music we grew up singing.”
The album’s title track, written by Singleton, celebrates the roles we play in our community. “Each one, teach one/Love one another,” Parler sings. As she and Singleton harmonize over a key change before the final chorus, there’s an arms-around-each-other feeling akin to “We Are the World.”
“It’s a message we have to hear loud and clear right now, like an anthem as morning medicine,” says Baxter. “Your village is your community, your get down, your household. It’s about helping one another. Do something kind for somebody today, with some purpose and intentionality.”
Since its 2017 debut, Ranky Tanky has won two Grammy Awards, while Ross also earned a nomination with his other group, American Patchwork Quartet, which reinterprets traditional folk songs with multicultural influences. That band’s varied sonic perspective finds its way into This Village via Ross’s Malian-inspired guitar on “Be Alright” and a Chuck Berry-esque intro to “Rejoice,” while Singleton channels South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela on “Our Love.”
“The spirituality of our culture informs the band, but you’re also hearing a branching out, with contemporary influences making their way into this project,” notes Baxter, who produced the album, which was recorded at Charleston’s Truphonic Studios before engineering with lauded producer Vance Powell in Nashville.
“He’s a mad scientist,” says Baxter, crediting both the freedom of a local studio and the new collaborators with the album’s expansive sound. Singer Lisa Fischer (best known for her quarter century with the Rolling Stones) joins on two songs, including an arrangement of Bill Withers’s “Grandma’s Hands.”
For Baxter, who sets up the song with a tambourine intro, it underscores Ranky Tanky’s good-times ethos. “We have joy in every song, absolutely, and that’s beautiful, but we can also just have fun for the sake of having fun,” he explains. “You can have fun loving people instead of needing to always be deep and dark. We’re aligned and in tune with the message, but you can also just have fun, man. Dance.”
