My friend George Fox had moved to Berwick, PA about a year ago. It was 1960.

There was Elvis, Jerry Lee, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, etc. George said they were auditioning guitar players and asked if I wanted to try out. I had been playing in a number of local groups from Kingston, PA.

Though Berwick was an hour away, I took a chance and made the group and George Fox, piano, Steve Bond, drums, me on guitar. We had various sax players and rhythm guitarists. Finally, Carl Syracuse became the solid fourth member on guitar with Jim Schrader on sax.

1963-1964 The Beatles hit and brought The British Invasion. George went off to Berkley in Boston. Jim switched to bass, Carl added keyboards and we were able to reproduce Beatle songs with the best of them. Our popularity spread throughout the Northeast. We went to New York City and Bell Sound Studio and recorded We Stand Alone and Storm Warning. Then, tragedy, Steve was on his way to one of our shows and died in a car accident on a back road in June town, PA. Rick Richards replaced Steve and stayed with me until I retired in 1976. Jim went off to music school and was replaced by Augie Christiano. Augie picked up the bass quickly. We went to NYC and recorded Got to Have Her, It Could Be, and others. Our live shows were going well. We opened for many of the top acts of the day.

Finally, in 1968 we began work on The Edgar Allan Poe project. Word spread to producer Gene Weiss and Mort Lewis. Mort managed Simon and Garfunkle, B,S&t, Dave Bruback, and now us. The name change to The Glass Prism suited the concept and the album “Poe Through The Glass Prism” was born. RCA signed us immediately. Les Paul was hired as our engineer and the album was recorded in three days and released weeks later in 1969. Billboard, Cashbox, and Record World charter the album and the single “The Raven”. However, since our promised tour with B,S&t was cancelled RCA backed off on the “push”. Our manager, Mort Lewis, and RCA broke down and the light dimmed.

Since our contract called for a second album, we were called by our producer Gere Weiss who notified us just a few days before studio time. “On Joy and Sorrow” our second album was written and recorded in just 3-4 days.

1971 we broke up and Rick, Augie, and I became Shenandoah. Louie Cossa replaced Augie on bass and added keyboards. We recorded a self-titled album with producer Seth Greenkey. However, this album was not released. We disbanded in 1976.

George Fox – Piano, 1960-1963
Steve Bond – Drums, 1960-1966
Tom Varano – Guitar and Piano, 1960-1976
Jim Schrader – Sax and Bass, 1960-1966
Carl Syracuse – Guitar and Organ, 1964-1971
Rick Richards – Drums, 1966-1976
Augie Christiano – Bass, 1966-1971
Louie Cossa – Bass, Organ, and Guitar, 1971-1976

Tom Varano Bio:
Studied guitar with classical cellist, Enzo Liva and jazz guitarist, Joe Bedwavik. Played with the El Caminos, The Glass Prism and Shenandoah, 1960-1976.

Rick Richards Bio:
Started playing drums at 13. Played in high school marching band and orchestra. Also while in high school played with a rock band “ King Tones”. In 1960 wrote and sang with a Doo Wop group, “Treasures”. Recorded 1961 Crown Records “I Walk With An Angel”. Did 4 years in USAF. While stationed in Mass, played with different groups around the Boston area. Joined El Caminos in 1966…to Glass Prism, then to Shenandoah. The rest is history

Lou Cossa Bio:
I started playing guitar in 1964 and added keyboards in 1969. I performed with the "Hip Pocket"(N.Y.C.) in 1970, with a 10 piece horn band "RALPH" for about a year, and then with an original band, "Shenandoah" from 1971 to 1975. For the next 3 years or so I worked with "the BOX TOPS". A road band version of the original."DAKOTA" was the next band for two years. We were signed with CBS, EPIC, COLUMBIA and after I left, MERCURY RECORDS. "DAKOTA" opened up for many name artists, including PAT BENETAR, JOE COCKER, and we were the opening act for the 1980 "QUEEN" tour. Ending my music career by returning to Scranton, i’ve worked with a wedding band, the “Exact Change”, A Pocono Band “Thea and leclic”,
And as of late An electronic duo “Solo-Tu” and A 4 piece RB band “The Next”. I have worked in the retail music business since 1978.  I started by helping a friend of mine and eventually opened my own store in 1987. I have been trained for keyboard programming, Sound System set up and installation.

When Glass Prism, RCA's exclusive recording group hailing form the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, was searching for something distinctive for its debut album, one of the quartet, Augie Christiano, an Edgar Allan Poe buff, suggested basing their material on the works of the great 19th century American poet. These are represented in the combo's initial Victor album, "Poe Through the Glass Prism" (LSP-4201). The group performs eleven of Poe's works, set to music by Glass Prism's Thomas Varano and Augie Christiano, and translates into a contemporary vein the vital feeling of the "lyrics" written more than a century ago.

Glass Prism consists of Carl Siracuse, Thomas Varano, Augie Christiano, and Rick Richards.

Carl Siracuse, a native of Kingston, Pennsylvania, plays organ and rhythm guitar with Glass Prism. A graduate of Wilkes College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he recently received a Bachelor's degree in Political Science, Carl had been performing for the past eight years in a local group called El Caminos, with Tom Varano and two others. Through attrition, Rick Richards and Augie Christiano came into the group and the four performed as El Caminos until recently when they began searching for a new name. Carl, whose sister is a nurse, was thumbing through one of her physics books and came upon a diagram of a glass prism. Voila!

Thomas Varano, from Shonokin, Pennsylvania, has harbored the ambition of becoming a great jazz guitarist since his high school days. It was a particular thrill that Glass Prism's debut RCA album was recorded at Les Paul's own studios in Mahwah, New Jersey, with the famed guitarist engineering the session.

In addition to performing with the group, playing guitar and piano, Tom runs a recently-opened girls' boutique, Bedroom, in Wilkes-Barre. He and Augie collaborated with "lyricist" Edgar Allan Poe on the album "Poe Through the Glass Prism."

Augie Christiano, Scranton's contribution to Glass Prism, plays bass guitar. Except for a childhood desire to grow up to become a pro football star, his driving ambition was music. Following graduation from West Scranton High School, he did a two-year hitch with the United States Army, and then became lead singer with a group called The Henchmen. When he heard that El Caminos was looking for a bass player, Augie, whose instrument was the rhythm guitar, faked his way through the audition, was chosen, and then learned how to play bass guitar.

Drummer Rick Richards, the group's "old man" at 26, is the only out-of-stater --- he's from the Bronx --- in Glass Prism ("but I moved out before I was two"). He has always wanted to be a drummer and won first place in countless talent shows through his days in Scranton Technical High School. He spent four years in the U.S. Air Force, is now Glass Prism's percussionist, and works as a licensed electrician in the Scranton area.

As Glass Prism, the quartet disperses light making meaningful, by today's standards, words which are part of our literacy heritage --- and makes itself unique among contemporary music groups.