Circles Around The Sun Fare Thee Well Setbreak Music Set For Official Release

Last week, full details on upcoming audio and video releases from this summer’s Fare Thee Well – Celebrating 50 Years Of Grateful Dead performances in Chicago were revealed. Included in the “complete versions” of the Fare Thee Well releases are three discs worth of the music played at intermission by Circles Around The Sun. It appears the box set won’t be the only place you can obtain the setbreak tunes as a collection of the Dead-like music will be available late next month.

Circles Around The Sun is the official name of the group who recorded the tunes composed by guitarist Neal Casal that were played over the PA at all five Fare Thee Well shows. The band finds Casal joined by his Chris Robinson Brotherhood bandmate Adam MacDougall on keyboards, pedal steel wiz Dan Horne and drummer Mark Levy. Casal and the gang recorded the music at a two-day session at Castaway 7 studios in Ventura, California.

Ventura’s VCReporter reports Rhino Records will issue Circles Around The Sun’s Interludes For The Dead as a vinyl two-record set for Record Store Day’s Black Friday event on November 27. A number of listings, including one on Amazon, point to a CD release on the 27th as well. The CD version is said to feature 10 tracks, while the Fare Thee Well box set contains 18 Circles Around The Sun compositions so it does appear at least some of the tracks will be exclusive to the box set for now.

The only track on either the Fare Thee Well box set or Interludes For The Dead that shares its title with an actual Grateful Dead song is “Mountains Of The Moon.” Listen to the version of “Mountains Of The Moon” Casal issued on Record Store Day in 2013:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-o5OPU6UnM

Neal Casal, Circles Around The Sun – Interludes For The Dead CD Tracklist

CD One

1. Hallucinate A Solution
2. Gilbert’s Groove
3. Kasey’s Bones
4. Space Wheel

CD Two

1. Ginger Says
2. Farewell Franklins
3. Saturday’s Children
4. Scarlotta’s Magnolias
5. Hat And Cane
6. Mountains Of The Moon