Album Reviews

Circles Around The Sun

Interludes For The Dead

Artist:     Circles Around The Sun

Album:     Interludes For The Dead

Label:     Rhino Records

Release Date:     11/27/2015

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It’s fair to say Neal Casal is something of a multi-tasker, especially given a prodigious career that’s taken him from Rickey Medlocke’s band Blackfoot early on, to steadfast service as a member of Ryan Adams’ longtime back-up combo the Cardinals, and currently, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood and his sometime super group Hard Working Americans. Equally impressive is the fact that he’s released no fewer than twelve solo albums, most of which have gone unnoticed, but which still remain classic examples of astute Americana.

As further proof of Casal’s industriousness, he currently touts two new projects. One of these, Interludes For The Dead, recorded under  the auspices of an ad hoc combo he dubs Circles Around the Sun, is a collection of carefully considered, melodic yet unobtrusive instrumental interludes that were featured prominently during the Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” concerts in Chicago this past summer. Commissioned specifically for that auspicious event and played during intermissions, it was recently released to commemorate Casal’s contributions to those sold-out shows. Suitably spacey, and similar to the Dead’s freewheeling psychedelic excursions circa the late ‘60s, it provided an ideal complement to the music made over that three day gathering.

– Lee Zimmerman

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