Core Group
RON PARIS (vocalist) is a soul singer, entertainer and activist. Born and raised in Chicago, he started singing gospel in the church at a very young age and in his teens could be found under the El doo-wopping with other youth. He has sung with The Platters, opened for the Jackson Five and Redd Foxx, and performed as The Ron Paris Show in clubs and casinos in Las Vegas from 1971 until 1997. Besides continuing to perform after moving to Santa Barbara in 1997, first as a solo vocalist and now as part of Shelter, he has written and presents a lecture-performance, “Sweet Soul Music,” [see promo here, for current booking info visit our contact page] to audiences across the nation. In 2006 he released his CD, Soul Mate.
WENDY SIMS-MOTEN (vocalist) is a lively Capricorn, gospel and soul singer, financial director for First Five in Santa Barbara County, a community activist, and a current member of the Santa Barbara School Board. Born in Texas, she moved to Santa Barbara in the 1980s where she has been a powerful voice for equity in education and the need to support the flourishing of all people. She is the founder of the annual Santa Barbara African American Women’s Luncheon and has served on the boards of numerous community organizations, including the George Washington Carver Club, the Fund for Santa Barbara, Pueblo, and the Endowment for Youth.
JULIE CARLSON (keyboardist) is a Professor of English at UC Santa Barbara, a teacher and scholar of British Romanticism, and a pianist who in the past few years has made the transition from classical music to r & b and soul. She not only studies the power of art to alter a person’s and a people’s psychic and political conditions but also believes that words are agents of change especially when their rhythmic and embodied dimensions are accentuated. She was the co-founder and faculty director of Project Excel, an academic preparation program for fifth through twelfth grade African American and Native American students, from 2005-10. Currently she is writing a book on the relationship between friendship and creativity and the importance of recognizing differences among friends.
ANTOINE RICHARDSON (drummer) has been playing drums and performing in many bands for more than 25 years. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he moved to Los Angeles in the late 80s and performed with several groups, most notably the Kushite Raiders, a reggae band, founded in Venice Beach. He moved to Santa Barbara in the 90s and has been with several local bands, including Underground Roots Syndicate, The Cannons, and One Two Tree, a reggae band formed in Santa Barbara in 2009. He has toured for years with the internationally acclaimed Jamaican reggae group Black Uhuru, Lee Scratch Perry, The Meditations, and Soul Majestic. Just recently he returned from Ethiopia where he was touring with legendary reggae singer, Pato Banton. Best known for reggae, Antoine plays an array of styles. He joined Shelter in 2016 and is the heartbeat of the group.
Guest Performers
MARK “ERNIE” KRAM (Guitarist) has performed in dozens of bands over the years with genres ranging from progressive jazz, funk, world beat, reggae, fusion, samba, big band and rock classics to originals and free jams. Ernie has been both the side man as well as the front man, and has spent a fair amount of time in the studio. He has been featured on nationally broadcast commercials as well as film soundtrack classics such as “Endless Summer, Part II”. Performing for close to 40 years, he cites his biggest influences as Miles Davis, George Benson, Joe Pass, Jimi Hendrix, BB King, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stevie Wonder, Larry Carlton and The Crusaders. An award winning Ph.D. environmental scientist by day, Ernie finds refuge performing with soulful musicians who have that sixth sense about cohesive grooves.”
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