Ranky Tanky in High Point

Ranky Tanky is an American band formed in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2016 to reinterpret the Gullah music of the Lowcountry through jazz, gospel and soul. Singer Quiana Parler fronts an ensemble whose repertoire draws on spirituals, work songs and children’s songs; the group is known for its self-titled debut and the album Good Time. Ranky Tanky performed at the Newport Jazz Festival and Carnegie Hall during the touring years that followed its debut. In 2022, the band recorded a set at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the resulting live album won the Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album.

Lisa Fischer is an American R&B and soul singer, born in New York, whose solo work includes the album So Intense and the Grammy-winning ballad “How Can I Ease the Pain.” She is also known for her decades as a backing vocalist for Luther Vandross and The Rolling Stones, and for her appearance in the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. She joined The Rolling Stones’ touring ensemble for the Steel Wheels Tour in 1989 and remained part of the group through the Zip Code Tour in 2015. Her featured vocal passage in “Gimme Shelter” became a recurring part of the band’s concerts during that period. After 20 Feet from Stardom, Fischer expanded her solo concert work with the band Grand Baton. Their sets recast rock, soul and R&B songs while drawing on her solo catalogue and her years of recording and touring with Luther Vandross.