Circles Around the Sun, lead by guitarist Neal Casal, have teamed up with drummer Joe Russo for a new collaborative EP, appropriately titled Circles Around the Sun Meets Joe Russo, which will be released Oct. 18. CATS have also shared a preview of the effort with new single "Peace Reprise" and have added a batch of tour dates including a New Year's Eve run in Colorado.
The upcoming EP came out of a fully improvised session at Russo's recording studio in Brooklyn this year and was mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Tedeschi Trucks Band) and CATS bassist Dan Horne.
"All of the members of CATS have been friends with Joe Russo for years between our collaborations with Phil Lesh, Cass McCombs and others," says Casal. "We thought it would be a great idea to do a project with him, so we met up in a studio in Brooklyn and wound up creating four songs in one day. The session had a true CATS in the moment vibe with explosive improvisation, double drums between Joe and our drummer Mark Levy, conversational guitars with me and Dan, and plenty of Adam Macdougall keyboard wizardry."
Russo adds: "I was excited when Neal reached out about the possibility of this collaboration. Having played with Neal and Adam many times before over the years, and my time spent with Dan on Cass Mccombs gigs and sessions, it felt like a no brainer. I was also psyched to do some double drums with Mark, especially in this context. Hope to do it again one day."
Listen to "Peace Reprise" below, and pre-order Circles Around the Sun Meets Joe Russo here.
CATS newly added tour dates will kick off Oct. 16 with the band's debut in Seattle, followed by their first show in Portland and a return home to San Francisco the following two nights and subsequent visits to Sacramento and Los Angeles. In late December, CATS will play a New Year's Eve run in Colorado, starting with a Denver show Dec. 27 and continuing with gigs in Fort Collins Dec. 29 and Buena Vista Dec. 31. The band also has slots at Virginia's LOCKN' Festival in August and Jam Cruise in January on their schedule.
Circles Around the Sun Meets Joe Russo Tracklist:
1. When I Was At Peace
2. Get It Right The First Time
3. Added Addition
4. Peace Reprise
Circles Around the Sun Tour Dates
Aug 22 - Arrington, VA - LOCKN' Festival
Oct 16 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile
Oct 17 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
Oct 18 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
Oct 19 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow’s
Oct 20 - Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon
Dec 27 - Denver, CO - The Gothic Theatre
Dec 29 - Fort Collins, CO - Aggie Theater
Dec 31 - Buena Vista, CO - Ivy Ballroom
Jan 7-12 - Miami, FL - Jam Cruise
