OriginsLucid was born in a small Adirondack town called Plattsburgh: a place every band should be so lucky to call home. The locals there love live music, and give it their unrelenting support, while several colleges in the area provide a constant stream of new listeners eager to participate in the party. The town is flooded with musicians in one of the tightest and largest (per capita) music scenes in any city in America. On a given Friday night one can walk out of a bar where pulsing mambo beats drive the audience from their seats, into another where a frenzied crowd thrashes to raging death metal, into another where a cover band plays 80s favorites, and likely you will be followed by one or more of these musicians as they hop from band to band to play with their friends for a song or two. It is in this diverse and supportive environment that Lucid grew into adulthood. The central core of the band has been around for more than seven years, and while here have been lineup changes, Lucid's current roster has remained steady for the past three: James Armstrong (sax and vocals), Andrew Deller (keyboards and vocals), Kevin Sabourin (guitar and vocals), Chris Shacklett (bass and vocals), Ryan "Rippy" Trumbull (drums and vocals), and Lowell Wurster (percussion, harp, and vocals). Past members of the band continue to remain a vital part of their infrastructure, aiding in anything from website design to stage production. These members include Jason Recore who ran sound and lights for several years, and Nick Sauvie who has also run sound and lights, as well as aided in t-shirt design, poster design, and the layout of this very website. Once a member of Lucid, always a member of Lucid. Totally ProHoning their three p's (performance, production, and partying) over their seven years in the North Country, Lucid has become that total package: a band that can fit onto a postage stamp for an acoustic show; a band that can throw down in a backwoods bar for six hours; a band that can fill a hall or pack a field; and a band that knows how to work with a stage crew because they have the know-how and equipment to fully produce most events themselves. Lucid is not afraid to roll up their sleaves and take on the entire production for an evening. They'll roll into your town, set up their full P.A. and lights, play the entire evening, then pack it all up again, and head on to the next gig. Over the years they have smartly reinvested in the band, making their P.A. state-of-the-art, and their light show fully adaptable to any situation. With their state-of-the-art equipment, they routinely make multi-track recordings of each live performance. Lucid is also perfectly capable of fitting into a single quick set in a venue rapidly moving bands through an evening. They know how to backline their gear, set up, sound check, and break down in minimal time to make room for other bands in a tight line-up. Now veterans of the New York City scene, they have been truly tested, and have proven themselves time and again. |
Studio Albums
Their decision to go with Chuck Eller Studios in Vermont for this first release paid off handsomely. The production reflects the outstanding professionalism of the studio where bands like The Allman Brothers, Phish, and Oysterhead had recorded previously. This also proved to be a great learning experience for Lucid - so much so that they decided they would take on recording themselves when it came time to do their second album.
Literally recorded in a basement with local friend and producer Benn Rymon Erb, the album takes the early ideas of "Miles Deep" and expands upon them, while delivering them in a much more raw-sounding package. Some tracks, like the ballad "Bad Habit," carry over a sense that this is the same band who gave you their first album, but the growth of the band is evident everywhere from the first track "Pushin'" which sounds like it could have lept off of an L.P. from the 70s, to the last track, a driving frolic called "Spliff Blues." Benn not only co-engineered the album with Lucid, but single-handedly designed the album's distinctive art work and layout. Benn continues to work with Lucid producing t-shirts, and planning other merch. Fans are clamoring again, and not ones to dissappoint, Lucid has begun to pursue their next studio album. Kevin Sabourin, the band's founder, and its main song writer, continues to write prolifically. Along with submissions by Lowell Wurster and Andrew Deller, Lucid has more than enough original material to fill another three albums. Tested by the fires of live performance, these songs pass with flying colors. Everyone wants to know when they can get their copies of "Green Money" and "Boats." In the meantime, Lucid continues to post live recordings at Internet Archive, and has self-produced a CD of the best of these tracks. While the studio CDs can be purchased at local stores, and online at Cd Baby, you can only find the live CD at their shows. |
Backwoods PondfestSince 2007, Lucid has hosted Backwoods Pondfest - a two-day music festival at Twin Ponds Resort Campsite in Peru, NY with KALI Productions, and Chris Boire, owner of Boire Design, Inc.. This has given Lucid the opportunity to play alongside such renowned acts as Chali 2na (who performed his second year at the festival this past summer with Break Science), Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Rubblebucket,Spiritual Rez, and Twiddle. Additionally, Lucid gets to share their stage with local and regional favorites like Aqueous, Capital Zen, Hot Day at the Zoo, Shameless Strangers, and Sinecure.
Since Backwoods Pondfest started, Lucid has made it tradition to play both nights - an early slot Friday evening, and the closing slot late Saturday night. These past two years, Chali 2na has joined them onstage to freestyle during their opening performances - in 2010 during their original "Styles of the Smooth," and then again in 2011 during Lucid's cover of the R.L. Burnside traditional "Miss Maybelle." Being the host band at Backwoods Pondfest, Lucid doesn't just perform; they participate in every aspect of production from the planning during the months leading up to it, to the clean up for weeks afterwards. From booking bands, hiring stage and security crew, preparing the campground, building stages, participating in production, and managing staff - a member of Lucid is there. This experience has groomed them to be an ideal festival band, and their past two summer festival tours have proved it. This year's festival tour is looking even more promising. The FutureLucid shows no sign of stopping. Weathering such band-crushing events as line-up changes, and the most recent loss of their well-known tour bus "Lucy," they continue to perform, they continue to produce new hits, and continue to grow into a brotherhood not seen in most other bands. Their travels take them farther and farther abroad, their territory growing with each weekend. First confined to the North Country region around Lake Champlain, Lucid can now be seen from New Hampshire, down through Massachusettes and Connecticut, into New York City and New Jersey, and out into Pennsylvannia. Always expanding their territory, this spring will see Lucid travelling the entire east coast. Keep your eyes and ears open for them, because clearly this is a band going places. |
Lucid released their debut album "Miles Deep" in early 2005 to 
"Dewdmanwah" was released to a collective sigh of relief in 2009. By this time fans were clamoring for another studio album, and they were not dissapointed.
