From Palmwine Roots to A New Generation: How Ancienth Carries Ghana’s Musical Torch
Long before electric guitars, streaming platforms, and concert arenas, there was a wooden guitar, a gathering of people, and stories shared over calabashes of palmwine. This was where Palmwine Music lived.
Its melodies travelled through fishing communities, farming villages, railway settlements, mining towns, and marketplaces across the Gold Coast. Musicians transformed everyday life into song , singing about love and heartbreak, migration and survival, humour and hardship, wisdom and celebration. Palmwine Music became the people’s newspaper, philosophy, and memory carried through strings and voice.
As Ghana entered the twentieth century, these sounds evolved into one of the country’s earliest modern acoustic traditions and laid important foundations for what would later become Highlife music.
Among the pioneering figures who helped bring Palmwine Music to wider audiences was Kwame Asare, popularly known as Jacob Sam, whose recordings secured an enduring place for the genre in Ghana’s musical history.
The journey continued through the work of the legendary Kumasi Trio, whose music became one of the defining voices of Ghanaian Palmwine Music. Musicians including Kwaw Kanta and H. E. Biney contributed significantly to the growth of the tradition, influencing generations of guitarists, singers, and storytellers. The torch passed through many hands.
It continued through respected Palmwine masters including Kwaku Bibi, Akwasi Manu, Kwasi Peprah, Kankam, Kwaku Kwarteng, Kwame Boakye, and many others who kept Ghana’s indigenous guitar traditions alive.
Then came Agya Koo Nimo, the internationally celebrated Palmwine master whose music carried the sound of Ghanaian acoustic guitar to audiences far beyond the country’s borders while preserving its soul and authenticity. Today, that journey continues with a new generation.
Among those carrying the tradition forward is Ghanaian musician ANCIENTH, born Ezecheal Kwasi Asimeng Frimpong.
A Palmwine musician, Highlife artist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, band leader, and cultural performer, ANCIENTH has dedicated his career to preserving, promoting, and advancing Ghana’s indigenous musical traditions for contemporary and international audiences.
Professionally known as “The Torchbearer of Palmwine Music,” he sees himself not as the owner of the tradition but as one of its custodians, entrusted with carrying forward a flame lit long before his birth.
Unlike many musicians whose journeys begin in studios and rehearsal rooms, ANCIENTH describes his artistic path as one shaped by reflection, solitude, and nature, where forests, mountains, and quiet landscapes became part of his musical education and creative identity.
His artistic influences stretch across the Palmwine lineage — from Kwame Asare (Jacob Sam) and the Kumasi Trio to Kwaw Kanta, H. E. Biney, Kwaku Bibi, Akwasi Manu, Kwasi Peprah, Kankam, Kwaku Kwarteng, Kwame Boakye, and most significantly Agya Koo Nimo, from whom he received personal advice and guitar guidance.
As a band leader, lead vocalist, and lead guitarist, ANCIENTH has performed extensively across Ghana at major cultural festivals, national events, and international cultural institutions.
His appearances include performances at Otumfuo’s STEM Festival at Manhyia Palace, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley’s 78th Birthday Celebration, Bonwire Kente Festival, Goethe-Institut, Alliance Française, National Theatre, and +233 Jazz Bar & Grill, as well as events held in honour of former President John Agyekum Kufuor and former First Lady Mrs. Theresa Kufuor.
From 2020 to 2025, he served as lead vocalist and lead guitarist of K. Gyasi Ahyewa Band, while also performing with Abajo Band from 2019 to 2025. Today, he leads his own ensemble, Ancient Ghana Band, through which he continues his mission of preserving Palmwine and Highlife traditions.
His work has reached national audiences through appearances on TV3’s Showbiz 360, GTV Breakfast Show, Citi TV, Kesben TV, 3FM, Akoma FM, and Silver FM.
Beyond performance, ANCIENTH actively advocates for the preservation, education, and international recognition of Palmwine Music as an important part of Ghana’s cultural heritage. He develops educational materials on the genre and promotes awareness of indigenous Ghanaian music through performance, cultural exchange, and public engagement.
His debut single, “Asukese ABENA”, continues this mission by introducing traditional Palmwine and Highlife influences to contemporary listeners. For ANCIENTH, Palmwine Music is more than a genre.
It is memory.
It is oral history.
It is identity.
It is Ghana speaking to itself.
My mission is to preserve, perform, and carry Ghanaian Palmwine Music and Highlife traditions to new generations and international audiences, ensuring that the stories, rhythms, and guitar traditions of our forebears continue to live through music. As global interest in roots and indigenous music continues to grow, the story of Palmwine Music continues to unfold.
The pioneers lit the flame.
The masters protected it.
A new generation now carries it forward.
And among those holding the torch today stands ANCIENTH — The Torchbearer of Palmwine Music.
Media Contact:
ANCIENTH (Ezecheal Kwasi Asimeng Frimpong) | Email: ancientbwai9@gmail.com | Phone/WhatsApp: +233 244 825 634
Facebook: Ancienth Ghana | Instagram: @Ancienth_ | YouTube: Ancienth Ghana Band | TikTok: Ancienth Ghana Band
