Ranky Tanky. Photo courtesy of Dori Bosnyak from the TTU Office of the President website.
On April 28, the Texas Tech Office of the President will host Grammy winners Ranky Tanky, as their final act to wrap up this semester’s Presidential Lecture & Performance Series.
The series celebrates 15 years of providing the local community with educational and entertaining performances by distinguished speakers, authors, musicians, and dance companies. Notable performances from the past include Flatland Cavalry, Santa Fe Opera, and David Sedaris.
Dori Bosnyak, lead administrator of the presidential lecture and performance series, said the series will usually feature five productions a year with each season spanning across fall and spring from October through April and ending with local performances at Lubbock Lights.
“In April we typically have our Lubbock Lights production, which is our local show, and then this year you see it’s a little atypical that we’re gearing up for Ranky Tanky,” Bosnyak said.
Ranky Tanky, originally scheduled to perform at the Allen Theater in February, was rescheduled to April 28 after their flights were canceled due to cold temperatures.
“It’s been an unusual season this year for many reasons, we also had to cancel our speaker in October due to rising COVID numbers back in early fall, she opted to come next year so it’s definitely been an unusual season,” Bosnyak said.
Despite these obstacles, Bosnyak said she could not be more excited to now have Ranky Tanky set to perform in Lubbock.
“They were actually booked three years ago and then we had to postpone them a bunch of times, so finally they’re coming!” Bosnyak said.
The musical quintet consisting of musicians: Quiana Parler (lead vocalist), Clay Ross (guitarist/vocalist), Kevin Hamilton (bassist), Charlton Singleton (trumpeter/vocalist) and Quentin E. Baxter (drummer), take musical inspiration from their own Gullah culture.
“Their genre is quite broad, so they are certainly based in jazz, funk, R&B, and gospel,” Bosnyak said. “They’re coming to us from a specific region in the Southeast part of the U.S. called The Sea Islands region and they’re coming specifically from Charleston, South Carolina.”
Ranky Tanky’s music is rooted in the Gullah culture of The Sea Islands, an area where individuals with West African heritage who were enslaved, carried and preserved their language, culture, rhythm, and traditions.
“They take all of those old sounds and the language [Geechee] itself – they fuse that with more modern jazz and funk and gospel and just merge all of that together and become this really unique band,” Bosnyak said. “Their name speaks to who they are as well, Ranky Tanky, it translates loosely to ‘work it’ or ‘get funky’ you know, ‘get moving’ so I think that really speaks to who they are and gives a good picture of what to expect of them – you’re probably gonna have to get up and dance if you come to this show so fair warning you will be moved to dance around in the aisles.”
Bosnyak hopes performances like Ranky Tanky’s provides an exciting and entertaining experience not only for Lubbock locals but also for students pursuing degrees outside of the arts to enjoy.
“No matter what their majors are, I hope that they get excited to be on campus for an arts related event,” Bosnyak said. “I know you come to campus, you go to your classes, and you work within your major but I’m really excited to have this opportunity offered again for free for students to sort of get out of their little…bubbles or comfort zones or whatever they typically do to come out and experience a whole other aspect of what the university does outside classes.”
Although this season was not as planned as previous seasons, Bosnyak says she is excited to have worked through it with the support of the series patrons.
“We refer to PLPS [Presidential Lecture & Performance Series] as a gift from the president to the community because of our pricing and because of how we keep it free for students,” Bosnyak said. “I’m just quite happy that we’re still here and we’re weathering through the pandemic hopefully we’re gonna tackle next season without any hiccups and we’ll have a full lineup.”
Ranky Tanky will perform at the Allen Theater located in the Texas Tech Student Union Building, April 28, 2022, at 7 p.m.
For general information and ticket information regarding Ranky Tanky: https://www.ttu.edu/administration/president/lectureseries/ranky-tanky.php
About jamejdrarh
