Los Angeles-based instrumental supergroup Circles Around The Sun is a contemporary instrumental rock band, initially formed in 2015, when Justin Kreutzmann, son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill, invited founder Neal Casal to compose the intermission music for the Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” concerts.
As those shows celebrated the band’s 50th anniversary, Circles Around The Sun’s earliest compositions Interludes For The Dead were designed to reflect the Dead’s overall spacey, improvised, and groove-laden feel.
The response was so positive that they continued on with a follow-up project, Let It Wander, in 2018. This record was less influenced by the Dead and more free-form, delivering on the roots influence of jazz-funk, soul, and fusion.
The band underwent a fundamental transition in 2019. After completing the Meets Joe Russo EP and a third album, their guitarist Neal Casal died on August 26, 2019. He left his bandmates a note asking for them to continue in his absence– to continue recording, touring, and playing together. The band decided to carry on with a rotating cast of guitarists, landing on John Lee Shannon as the permanent replacement. They continue the legacy to this day.
Circles Around The Sun is a first-of-its-kind band that has continued to trail-blaze the instrumental cosmic disco space for nearly a decade, shapeshifting through several iterations. Not just spiritually but actually and tangibly linked to Grateful Dead history, the band’s music shares shelf space with post-rock, psych-rock, jazz-funk, and good old fashioned psychedelia, while their recorded output has included collaborations with such diverse luminaries as Joe Russo, Billy Strings and Mikaela Davis. Original instrumentals form the bedrock of CATS’ live show, taking fans on a whole different journey every time.
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