Asher and TC Morse met at a local conference and instantly connected musically. When asked about how they decided to play together, TC said, “It was clearly fate…First time we played together, we knew.” Informal jamming led to a search for like-minded San Francisco Bay Area musicians to join them. The line-up grew organically. Asher provided lead guitar, keyboards and background vocals, as well as original music, and TC Morse handled lead vocals, rhythm guitar and lyrics. Asher invited friend Dave Guglielmana to be the band’s bassist, and Guglielmana engaged Vic Griffith, a self-taught drummer who had played in local cover bands. And Lucid Rays was born.
All four shared similar musical backgrounds – picking up instruments in childhood, playing in school bands, learning other instruments, college level studies and wide-ranging musical interests. Experiences included studies with jazz master Jimmy Heath, Brett Wilmot (Berklee School of Music), and Ross Valory (Journey’s bass player), and playing with Les Claypool before he joined Primus. Collectively, Asher, TC, Dave, and Victor brought difference styles into their music: From hard rock to classical music; resulting in a collection of original, punchy, classic rock songs. Lucid Rays’ lyrics reflect their commitment to raising social awareness and promoting positive change.
When they entered El Cerrito Studio to record their first album in 2012, with multi-GRAMMY® winning production team (Oscar Autie and Kenya Autie), their sound attained a higher level of professionalism. With enough original material to record several albums, they created their first release, “Hard Time in the City.” The album includes 12 songs, and incorporates hand percussion, piano, strings and saxophone, in addition to the original instrumentation.
“The album is really a conglomeration of diverse influences. If you look at all four of the members, it started out as an idea, and everyone’s experience really comes into play.“ — Asher.
In 2014, Lucid Rays released their single “More in Common.” As many of Lucid Rays’ songs, this one has an important message. It talks about the importance of diversity and inclusion, and it states that us humans have more in common than we realize.
In 2016, Lucid Rays released their second album “Stand Before the Systems,” which steers away from pure classic rock to incorporate some more alternative rhythms and sounds. This album opened the door to the UK audience, and all their songs are now being played on the radio. All music has been released through the El Cerrito Records label and available in all digital platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and many others).
In 2017, Asher decided to move to the mountains, so he could compose an Opera Rock and spend more time in his Acupuncture clinic. The band took a few years away from the live scene; however, Asher continues composing and arranging, and TC continues writing lyrics. Now, they are announcing an upcoming album and promising surprises along the way.