Circles Around The Sun

Neal Casal on guitar Adam MacDougall on keyboards Dan Horne on bass Mark Levy (2) on drums American band sometimes referred to as CATS. Gained fame as a mystery band whose music was playing during the Grateful Dead's Fare Thee Well's intermissions. As the results & response were so positive the music was given a separate release, and alter further albums followed. The band has continued after Casal died on 2019-08-26. The project began when Neal Casal was asked by video director Justin Kreutzmann to compose and record more than five hours of original music to be played along with the visuals Kreutzmann was preparing for the Fare Thee Well intermissions. "The idea was to not only show reverence for the past but to ultimately, move it forward. If there's anything to be learned from the Grateful Dead, it is to dissolve your boundaries, push your limits, and discover your own voice in this world," explains Casal, the lead guitarist and co-lyricist for The Chris Robinson Brotherhood and part-time member of Phil Lesh and Friends. Casal initially formed the band specifically to record just for the shows and was joined in the studio by keyboardist Adam MacDougall, a fellow member of Robinson's Brotherhood and Lesh's Friends. The balance of Circles Around The Sun consists of bassist Dan Horne (Beachwood Sparks, Jonathan Wilson) and drummer Mark Levy (The Congress). All of the music on Interludes For The Dead was written collectively - with nothing prepared beforehand or added afterward - and recorded live by engineer J.P. Hesser.