S.O.S. Bios
Ember Vaughan is an entertainer with a style as dynamic and powerful as her voice. Her wide vocal range and sensitive interpretation have made her a favorite on stage and in the studio.
A native of the Richmond, Virginia area, Ember began singing and playing guitar at age 14. Her origins were in folk, R&B and country rock. In high school she began songwriting and performing in professional groups. She continued performing throughout college while studying music and art.
After college, she moved to Chicago. There she began doing a caberet act as well as fronting an original rock band, Alibi, with partner and musical director, Will Kaplan. They produced a music video of their song, “Fatal Attraction”, which aired as a finalist on MTV's Basement Tapes competition.
Ember began singing commercial sessions for Chicago’s top producers. Some of her client credits include, Pepsi, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Oprah Winfrey, and she was the signature voice for Foley’s Dept. Stores of Texas for two years.
She was a featured performer with Mickey & The Memories, Chicago’s most popular vintage rock show band, from 1985 to 1988. This show required a command of many vocal styles.The group appeared with such performers as the Association, Buddy Hackett, Leslie Gore, the Box Tops and Casey Kasem.
In 1987, Ember appeared twice on STAR SEARCH, winning in the female vocalist category.
In 1988, Ember moved to Los Angeles, where she has been showcasing regularly at area clubs and at private functions as lead vocalist for the dance band, Tunetown . She continues to do session work and record original material.
Stephanie Krystad grew up in Minnesota, the same great state that gave us Patty, Maxine & Laverne -- The Andrews Sisters. As a child, her mother insisted she choose between athletics and the arts. As a result, she decided to “live for the arts”, playing percussion in the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony and high school Concert Band and Orchestra, singing in the Concert and Chamber choirs and participating in several drama productions. The highlight of those years for her was playing Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” and leading the popular Faribault Senior High School Drum Corps.
College brought her away from the arts and across the Atlantic, where she studied in Aalborg, Denmark. After moving to Oslo, Norway, she met her future husband Eric, and with him moved to Seattle, Washington. Years later she surprised him at their wedding aboard the ferryboat “Skansonia”, singing a camp version of the Beatles’ “When I’m Sixty-four”. Friends and family bombarded her with the question, “Why aren’t you singing?!”
Though she realized she missed performing, it wasn’t until years later that she found her voice again, joining a local theatrical choir. Her abilities were quickly noticed and she became a frequent soloist. For their concert “Swingin’ at the Alex” at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA, she joined Teresa and Ember, quickly throwing together a version of the Andrews Sisters’ “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen”. The number came together so easily and the harmonic blend was so exceptional that the three were determined to work together again. Soon after, they formed S.O.S., and the rest is history!
Hard to believe, but S.O.S. is Stephanie’s first foray into professional singing. She also enjoys singing with the Hollywood Master Chorale, recently a featured soloist.
Teresa Parente is an accomplished stage and television actress and an acclaimed singer. Trained in the theatre from her early teens, she’s performed on New York and regional stages across the country playing Comedy, Drama, Revues, Opera, Musicals and the Classics. (Click here for Teresa's ACTOR RESUME.)
Her one-woman show -- a collection of songs from the 1930's and 40's, R&B, jazz, contemporary gems and original comedy, performed at nightclubs throughout Manhattan -- won an avalanche of critical kudos, calling her "a volcano” ...“a wicked comedienne and a lilting singer” who “sings the socks off R&B”, with “a mighty, passionate, vibrant voice”...”like an Amati violin," among other raves. At the same time, she became a familiar face and voice in scores of television and radio commercials.
In 1992 she moved to Los Angeles, and with her came the carpetbag of characters collected from her years in New York. Transitioning easily into a career in television and film, she became familiar to Married…With Children fans as hapless TV reporter Miranda Vera Cruz de la Jolla Cardenal. She has guest starred on dozens of television series, including Friends, Café Americain, 3rd Rock from the Sun, American Dreams, Strong Medicine and Malcolm & Eddie, played dozens of wildly varied characters as a regular on “The Steven Banks Show”, and currently appears in flashback on “Without a Trace” as Anthony LaPaglia’s mother. She was narrowly missed by a hail of gunfire in a recent episode of the CBS dramatic series, Numb3rs.
Finally returning to the music she loves, Teresa is currently singing jazz at local jazz venues, gives private performances featuring jazz gems and selections from the Great American Songbook, and continues to sing as a featured choir soloist, most recently with the Hollywood Master Chorale.
A Southern California resident since 1994, Teresa lives with her writer/producer/director/puppeteer/actor/Emmy Award winner husband Mark Ritts, and their darling daughter. Mark also appears as Lester the Rat on “Beakman’s World”, the innovative science show for kids, now on FOX TV every Saturday.