Circles Around The Sun

Los Angeles-based instrumental supergroup Circles Around the Sun is a contemporary instrumental rock band, initially formed with the purpose of creating music for “Fare Thee Well,” a series of reunion concerts played by the surviving members of the Grateful Dead. Those shows celebrated the band’s 50th anniversary and served as their official send-off, while Circles Around the Sun was designed to reflect the Dead's overall spacy and groove-laden feel. After the tour, the group released a self-titled album from the “Fare Thee Well” gigs, supporting the record with their own road trip. The response was so positive that they continued on with a follow-up project, Let It Wander, in 2018. This record was less influenced by the Dead and more free-form, delivering on the roots influence of jazz-funk, soul, and fusion. The band underwent a fundamental transition in 2019. After completing the Meets Joe Russo EP and a third album, their guitarist Neal Casal committed suicide on August 26, 2019. He left his bandmates a note asking for them to continue in his absence– to continue recording, touring, and playing together. The band decided to carry on with a rotating cast of guitarists, landing on John Lee Shannon as the permanent replacement.

In this metamorphosis, Circles Around the Sun spans both heartbreak and hope. Doors close; windows open; new directions extend themselves in mysterious ways. But sometimes you know it’s real from the first beat. It just clicks. It’s just how Neal would want it. It’s Circles Around The Sun.

Spectra is the fourth full-length album by Jenny O. It is a celebration of the universal, the organic, a manual straight from the soul on how to love practically and unconditionally, in all directions. These are hymns straight from the Church of Rock n’ Roll. 

“Spectra refers to our multitudes, the ways we identify and experience life, as a nebula… nuance, variation, not one thing or another, but somewhere between, unfixed. Spectra explores connectivity and contains overt expressions of love for others, oneself, and nature. It is my favorite record I have made and my most joyful."

Jenny O. played the guitar, bass, synthesizers and more on Spectra. She grew up on Long Island, New York, in a household that worshiped early rock n’ roll. She is a classically trained composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist who studied jazz and experimented with trip hop in the early 2000’s before making her way to California and back to rock n’ roll. Jenny O. made two albums with Jonathan Wilson— Automechanic and Peace & Information, followed by New Truth and now Spectra— both with Kevin Ratterman. She has toured with legends like Sixto Rodriguez, Violent Femmes, Father John Misty, and Leon Russell, and performed vocals on recordings by Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Conor Oberst, and Jim James.