Photo by Matthew Mendenhall

Circles Around the Sun have announced through a statement that guitarist Scott Metzger will be leaving the group due to unforeseen circumstances.

Circles around the Sun came together out of the house music Neal Casal composed for the Fare Thee Well tour in 2015. After he took his life in 2019, the project has had a few guest guitarists including Eric Krasno and most recently Scott Metzger.

Before his death Casal left a note for the group, asking for them to continue in his absence—to continue playing, touring, and recording together.

“Our mission is to extend Neal’s musical legacy,” wrote drummer Levy on their website. “He was a classy dude and had a regal vibe about him. The other side of it is the mental health legacy. Maybe there are people out there in the same sort of darkness Neal was in, who can hear us and say we can work positively on multiple fronts in his memory.”

The band also announced that John Lee Shannon will be taking the helm as the new guitarist of Circles Around the Sun for their upcoming shows.

Donate to the Neal Casal Music Foundation here.

Read Relix‘s piece on Neal Casal here.