UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Ranky Tanky on Thursday, April 15 at 5 p.m. Pacific. Charleston’s Ranky Tanky exploded onto the music scene with their inspired take on the soulful songs of South Carolina’s Gullah culture, taking home the 2020 Grammy win for Best Regional Roots Music Album. With a name that translates loosely as “Get Funky,” Ranky Tanky is a relentlessly upbeat ambassador of Gullah, a culture known for retaining more African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other African-American community in the United States. Preserving and paying homage to a vanishing way of life, the dynamo quintet introduces audiences to the language, rhythm and music of the region with a distinctly American sound that incorporates jazz, blues, gospel and R&B.