Farewell dear Blogspot...

Our new (and much improved - many kudos to web-wizard Greg) website is up and running at www.cstime.net, and since it contains an integrated blog we'll be moving our updates and ruminations to

www.cstime.net/news

Update your blogrolls, bookmarks, etc., and we'll see you over at the new site.

CST hits YouTube!

Seems to be the trendy thing to do now (actually, it's probably been the trendy thing to do for quite a while... we're not necessarily the with-the-times-est band out there), putting some concert footage on YouTube. We're breaking some YouTube mores by posting stuff we own the copyright to, I know, but we just can't help being rebels. Here's a most-of-the-tune clip of us playing one of the songs from the new CD in Decorah a few weeks back:

CST on the airwaves

Don't be fooled by the lack of updated-ness of the KUNI web site--CST is returning to Live From Studio One on Monday, April 30th. We'll play songs from the new CD and be generally witty and cool, as we so often are.

You can catch the show at 7:00 p.m. on 90.9 FM in eastern Iowa, or listen to live streaming at http://www.kuniradio.org/kunilive.htm. Of course, if you’re in the area, we’d be very happy to have you join us in the studio on the UNI campus in Cedar Falls. Tickets are $3 for anyone over the age of 12. You can call 1-800-772-2440 for tickets, in case you’re worried about the show selling out…

Can’t get enough of CST on the radio? Well, we can help assuage your appetite at least a little. You can catch us again on Thursday, May 3, at 11:00 p.m. on Luther College Radio KWLC. Web streaming is available at http://kwlc.luther.edu.

And speaking of radio, What I Know Now is part of KUNI's music library, along with our previous releases, so please feel free to call the station and request some CST! You can request us during Karen Impola's folk music program, KUNI's evening music program, or request that they feature CST in their Down on the Corner program, which highlights local music. The new CD is or will soon be available for airplay at other public and college radio stations as well, so please, don't be shy about requesting some of our tunes.

Thanks, as always, for listening!

CD, Baby!

Big day in the CST administrative compound today. Matt and I played a "CD release show" at the Mill, which was interesting (as shows at the Mill generally are) and a lot of fun. It was our first chance to play a couple of the new tunes on the CD for our Iowa City fans and the band after us (if I may borrow a Barney-ism) suited up. Fun night.

Also, today we got notice from CD Baby that What I Know Now's online store is up and running. To wit:

CD release show this Friday!

Come on down to the Mill in Iowa City this Friday evening (April 13th) to catch some of the tunes off our new CD. Enjoy some music, good food and beverages, and help us celebrate the release of What I Know Now. Cover is $6, and CST hits the stage at 9:00 p.m. Following our set will be a performance by Patrick Bloom and the Ghosts of Radio, another of Iowa City's fine local acts.

And then there were five

It's not the Storyhill discography yet by any means, but on the other hand we're still at a point where we can expand our catalog by 25% in a single morning. There is much rejoicing around the CST complex this morning.

EDIT - click here for the first review of the new disc.

These posters will start going up around Decorah tomorrow. Whee!

A correction from the last post - our performance on KWLC's 30 Minutes/Thursday show won't be broadcast until May 3. Feel free to tune in Thursday night anyway - I'm sure whoever's playing will do a lovely job - but no CST webstream for a few weeks yet.

CST = College Show Time!

Next Thursday we're playing at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Our second college show ever (if one limits the definition of "college show" to only include colleges neither of us are attending at the time) and a place we've been excited to play since our own college days. We're quite excited and most nervous. And Matt has a cold and is all hoarse and phlegmy, so the show's obviously a shoo-in for awesomeness.

It'll be the first time we play some of our new stuff live and it's a free show, so if you find yourself in the Decorah area next Thursday at 9:00 stop on by the Student Union basement.

And even if you're not in the Decorah area, you can listen to us on KWLC radio's 30 Minutes on a Thursday broadcast - webstreamed from here. The show's on at 11:00 p.m. Central and they claim the streaming will even work on dial-up. It's a similar format to KUNI's Live From Studio One, which we've played a few times (although only half an hour long) - a mix of live music and interview time. We'll play at least one of our brand new songs on the air, too.

And here it is:

The CD is in production. Oh, excitement is mounting! Keep checking back for exciting news about CD release shows and other fun stuff.

WHAT I KNOW NOW

Here is what I know now:

• Central Standard Time's third full-length, all-original CD is finished and set for production to begin.
• The new CD should be (cross your fingers, knock on wood, etc.) in our hands in time for our March 29th show at Luther College.
• The new CD has been a long time coming. We've been working on it in one way or another for about... four years (?). I think that's right.
• The title of the CD is What I Know Now.

Whew... more to come soon!

And that was really fast

Sent in for mastering yesterday morning, back to me this morning. Matt Nelson, you're a miracle worker.

I'm listening to the new CD in its final form for the first time right now.

As the ancient Romans said, yay!

This is really weird...

The final mixes for the new CD (which is now, I believe, officially titled "What I Know Now") will be sent in for mastering this morning. The master should be at Discmakers by Monday, and CDs should be back here a couple of weeks after that.

I'm not sure I'm ready to live in a world where this CD's something other than a project we're working on.

But I expect I'll pretty quickly get used to it.

Electro-folk

The other day we played a little show at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Iowa City. We decided to try a little something different and have a friend of ours play drums. We've played with drums another time or two, but that's it. And these drums... well, they were electronic drums.

I have to admit, they sound pretty convincing. They're nice electronic drums (or at least seem so to my untrained ear). Still, they're electronic drums! It kinda makes me laugh. I'm glad he played with us--it was a fun show, and considering the almost complete lack of practice beforehand, it went pretty well. The only thing missing was a poster featuring an inspirational and motivational photo of Mr. T.

I doubt there are many folk groups that play with an electronic drum set, though... We got some photos on Charlie's camera; maybe he can post one.

(edit: Posts R Me. Who's up enough on CST tunes to be able to name the song we're playing from just the picture? There's a key piece of data there that narrows it down to just two possible tunes. - Charlie)

Breaking news!

Just so you know, the Mud River event on February 18 has been cancelled. Or maybe postponed. Whatever the case, it's not going to happen on the 18th. I believe it will be rescheduled for sometime early this spring, and hopefully we'll still be involved. And don't you worry--we'll keep you updated!

MySpace R Us

CST has finally joined the MySpace phenomenon. We've set up a MySpace page at www.myspace.com/cstime. If you've a MySpace page, send us a friend request and please use one of our tunes on your page. If not, it's another online source of information about show times and a way to listen to music. And another blog, should we ever decide to start updating it (we're much better at find ways to disseminate information than we are at generating information to disseminate).

In other news, we have a couple of shows coming up. This Saturday we'll be playing at Christ the King Lutheran Church at part of a fundraising coffeehouse/talent show for the youth group. The show starts at 7:00, and CST will start whenever the other acts are finished (we'll probably play for about an hour). Next Sunday (the 18th) we're playing as part of another fundraiser (apparently people think attaching the CST name to an event helps make it profitable. I'd be curious to know how they defend that, but whatever) for the Mud River Music Festival. That show's at Uptown Bill's small Mall in downtown Iowa City and starts... sometime in the afternoon. Matt hasn't told me for sure yet. But check one of our three online calendars over the next week and no doubt details will be forthcoming.

Hope you're enjoying this wintery weather! We sure are!

Slow and steady wins the race.

Well, Charlie already provided the update below on our progress on the new CD. And no, we didn’t get it done by Christmas (though that was a conscious decision on our part). Progress continues, albeit slow. We are gradually chipping away at and refining each song, deciding what little things to add or not to add to each one.

The process of creating this new CD has been much more a labor of love than our past CDs. When we recorded Second Whisper and Folksinging, we did so in a very limited amount of time. With Charlie’s nice home studio, we’ve had the luxury of taking our time and carefully considering exactly what to do with each song on the disc.

I think it will be worth the wait. I’ve enjoyed listening to the rough tracks Charlie mentioned below. The songs in their state on the CD Charlie burned all have at least a little tweaking to be done, but even if we left them as they are, I think all of them would hold up against our past work. Pillar to post, I think this will be our best release yet, and I’m excited that we’re getting so darn close to finishing it!

Check back often for updates and an announcement of the *official* release date!