Circles Around The Sun are wrapping up their Thanksgiving run tonight at the Belly Up in Solana Beach, CA, following shows at the Teregram Ballroom in Los Angeles, CA and the UC Theatre in Berkeley, CA. The band originally came together to write and record music for the Grateful Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” concerts in 2015, later releasing their debut record, Interludes For The Dead. This summer, Circles Around The Sun, comprised of guitarist Neal Casal and keyboardist Adam MacDougall (bandmates in the Chris Robinson Brotherhood), as well as bassist Dan Horne and drummer Mark Levy, released their second record of originals, Let It Wander.
While the songs on Interludes For The Dead are deeply rooted in Grateful Dead compositions, the songs on Let It Wander are focused and filled with imaginative musical turns. Horne and Levy form a veritable groove machine that knows intuitively when to tighten up and when to stretch out. They expand and collapse the rhythmic pocket around Casal and MacDougall, who pass melodies back and forth in an elaborate game of musical tag as they take turns adding color and shade from a seemingly endless kaleidoscope of cosmic sounds.
On Wednesday, November 11th, CATS opened up their Thanksgiving run in Berkeley, blending together their recently-released original music (“On My Mind”, “Immovable Object”, “One For Chuck”, “Ticket To Helix”, and “Halicarnassus”) with their Grateful Dead-inspired interpretations (“Ginger Says”, “Scarlotta’s Magnolias”, and “Saturday’s Children”. Thanks to taper ycoop, you can listen to the full show below:
Circles Around The Sun – 11/21/18
[Audio: ycoop]