The SHE (Sister Harriet Ensemble) brings the spirit of healing, community-building, and resistance to life through music. The house band for ZAMI NOBLA’s Sister Harriet Spiritual Collective, The SHE is rooted in a rich tapestry of original compositions, protest songs, women’s empowerment music, and Negro Spirituals. Their blend of vocal harmony and stringed instruments is moving. Band members are Angela Denise Davis (bass/vocals), Lara Davis (ukulele/vocals), Karimah Dillard-Mickey (ukulele/vocals), and Shontina Vernon (guitar/vocals).
ANGELA DENISE DAVIS
Angela Denise Davis is the creative director for ZAMI NOBLA and created its community music program, UKE-IN, in 2019. In 2021, she arranged Negro Spirituals for ukulele ensemble and premiered the work with the Remember & Reimagine Ukulele Ensemble (RRUE). The video can be seen on YouTube. Angela came to the bass while The SHE was in early formation. She continues to teach ukulele while exploring the sonic foundation that the electric bass brings to ukulele ensembles.
LARA DAVIS
Lara Davis is the Impact Producer at Visionary Justice StoryLab, where she leads initiatives that center queer Black women and non-binary filmmakers across the Southeast. As an artist, music has always been central to her creative expression—through singing, playing, and performing. With The SHE, Lara continues to expand her musicianship and storytelling, now exploring the ukulele as a new creative voice.
KARIMAH DILLARD-MICKEY
Karimah Dillard-Mickey is new to the ukulele. Karimah joined The SHE first as a vocalist and quickly progressed to strings. An early student of the piano and trumpet, Karimah’s lifelong love affair with music was nurtured by her mother, Charlette Neighbors, who, as one of the first Black on-air radio disk jockeys in Atlanta, gifted Karimah with music for the entirety of their lives together. Karimah still hears her mother’s song in whispers and shouts; birdsong and wind.
SHONTINA VERNON
Shontina Vernon is a transplant to Atlanta, who has lived in all four corners of the USA. She is a filmmaker and serves as Lead Producer for Visionary Justice StoryLab, an independent production company she co-runs with her partner. She is grateful for this beautiful collaboration and the chance to play the guitar and sing with The SHE.
“One of my father’s favorite pastimes was sitting in his back bedroom, playing the harmonica. Old Blues songs. Popular songs from his time as a young man. I’d tumble in and begin to dance and twirl as he played “Picked Poor Robin Clean,” and “The Running of the Hounds.” It was like being possessed the way the music got into my bones. And while both of my parents are now gone, that sensibility has never left me. It is this feeling that I hope I lend to the guitar, and to the music I share.”
Band Q & A
What are your musical influences?
Angela: Odetta, Abbey Lincoln, Ella Jenkins, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Toshi Reagon, Ruthie Foster, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Rosetta Tharpe, Gaye Adegbalola, and family gatherings where we would sing when I was a child.
Lara: Memphis Minnie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Laura Dukes, Kristin Hersh, Santigold, Son Little, Brittany Howard, and my sister Nancy, who showed me the beauty of harmony.
Karimah: Beautiful Chorus, Liz Wright, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Sarah Vaughn, my sister, Pamela Dillard (Mezzo-Soprano), Somi, India Arie, Abbey Lincoln, Tracy Chapman, Rising Appalachia, and Meshell Ndegeocello.
Shontina: Tracy Chapman, Abbey Lincoln, Joni Mitchell, Bill Withers, Joan Armatrading, Little Dragon, Son Little, Leadbelly, and Andre 3000.
If you could play one instrument other than
what you play in the band, what would it be?
Angela: The organ in the style I hear in Black gospel music
Lara: I also play guitar and some keyboard, but would love to really play piano. Can you say Hazel Scott?
Karimah: The djembe drum
Shontina: I would play keys/piano, with the only caveat being that I would want to play really well.
What inspires you to be part of THE SHE?
Angela: I am inspired by how we create community through our music. It is uplifting to know that our contribution to live music makes a difference to those who enjoy our work.
Lara: I am inspired by the collaborative nature of playing in an ensemble, especially one steeped in both roots and original music. Collectively, we are creating something bigger than ourselves, that connects us and has the power to move others.
Karimah: Something alchemical happens when playing music in community, with community. There is magic in the music that opens portals to healing and connection. I feel so lucky that I get to conspire (con-with/ spire-breathe) with my sisters on this journey of music making.
Shontina: I’m inspired by the power of music and how our instruments and collective voices come together to bring love, peace, and hope to those that hear it. We are the joy bringers.
What food and drink would you pair
with the music performed by The SHE?
Angela: Big Mama’s spaghetti, cabbage steamed with ginger, collards, kale salad, loose-leaf tea, 7-Up pound cake, and a mint julep.
Lara: Shrimp and grits, greens with smoked turkey, peach cobbler, and whiskey & soda.
Karimah: Smoky barbeque chicken, fresh cucumber and tomato salad, mac n cheese, red velvet cake, and an old-fashioned.
Shontina: Barbeque, potato salad, baked beans, a garden salad, corn on the cob, and watermelon. And maybe a drink made of hibiscus syrup, grapefruit soda, and whiskey.
What is the most recent song selection
on your phone’s audio player?
Angela: “Lord, How Come We Here” by Marian Anderson
Lara: “Hot Night” by Meshell Ndegeocello’s
Karimah: “Freedom Day Part 1” by Terri Lyne Carrington and Cristie Dashiell from the album “We Insist 2025!
Shontina: “IKYK” by Ogi
What is one thing that fascinates you about your instrument?
Angela: I had no idea that the bass is really a pattern master. It really is a logical instrument strung in intervals of 4ths. If you can grasp the patterns and build efficiency in technique, then the instrument becomes a boat upon which the other instruments float on the river of sound.
Lara: I continue to be surprised by the versatility of the ukulele. It can rock, express the blues, carry a sweet melody, and weave harmonies with such ease.
Karimah: I play a concert scale soprano ukulele. She is a smaller instrument compared to her cousins, the guitar and the bass. When I first started learning the ukulele, I had no idea how loud she could be, and then one day I (accidentally) strummed a hard C and she sang loud, proud, and clear as a bell. She is small but mighty.
Shontina: There is no end to what you can do and learn on the guitar. And it gives to you exactly what you give to it. I have the ultimate reciprocal relationship with my instrument.
What is your dream music collaboration for The SHE?
Angela: Toshi Reagon, Ruthie Foster, and Ysaye Barnwell
Lara: Brittany Howard, Amythyst Kiah, Thornetta Davis
Karimah: Autumn and Adrienne Maree Brown, Tracy Chapman
Shontina: Tracy Chapman, Laura Love, Toshi Reagon, Ruthie Foster, Brittany Howard, Leylla McCalla