Our STORY

While this group is relatively new, each of the musicians in TRIC have a lengthy relationship with soulful music and dance from different vibrant traditions.

The group began when lead singer Nick Ragheb returned to Santa Barbara after living for several years in the West African country of Cabo Verde. Nick worked there as the director of a university music program, and also performed with different bands, and he returned to the US wanting to continue his exploration with some of the styles of music popular in West Africa that were largely unknown in Southern California.

Nick reached out to Sharin Kurstin and Adam Cote, core members of the traditional West African drum and dance community in Santa Barbara, who form the percussion section of the band.

He also drew on the talents of Eric Ederer, a prolific multi-instrumentalist and music scholar, now bassist for the group, and Paul Wilcox (a.k.a. Yogi Mango), a man with a storied history in the local music scene, now performing with TRIC on lead guitar.

This initial group then became complete with the introduction of the powerful vocalists Adele Kurstin and Simone Temkin-Wilcox. Both experienced with North American and West African music and dance in various forms, these singers give the band its signature "full-body” sound that penetrates your body as much as it does your ears!