What happened to May?

Seems like Tres de Mayo was just yesterday! Alas, another relatively quiet Standard month has passed, only to give way to (in typical fashion) a flurry of engagements in the next couple of weeks. Check out the "Upcoming Shows" feature to the right for a full rundown on four upcoming Memphis-area gigs.

The first two will be played by the group affectionately known as Central Standards Lite (Jeff and Ted), while the latter two will be full-band gigs. So, hope you Memphians can join us in June at some different venues. By our standards, it'll kinda be like celebrating National Folk-Rock Month or something! Keep it here for more information on all of these shows.

Peace in.

Tres de Mayo

Thanks to the folks who came to "fiesta" with us on Tres de Mayo at the Wolchase El Porton! As you locals may recall, last Thursday was ominous weather-wise--we had been hearing about torrential rains and thunderstorms all week. Well, as luck would have it, we got totally set up under the tent in the parking lot and were just about ready to hit the downbeat, when the first rains of the day came. And did they ever come! Through the top of the tent, under the makeshift tent wall, through the unprotected sides. Dousing carefully placed set lists; saturating our trousers up to our knees; soaking amps, the PA and Marty's drum throne. It was dramatic.

As you can see, though, once we realized that playing outside wasn't going to happen, we made the transition to a semi-acoustic setup in a very small space inside the El Porton bar. We ended up starting around 7 p.m. instead of 5:30. But friends joined us inside, and we played a relatively low-key set over the course of the next couple of hours. Despite being a bit cramped due to space restrictions, it was a nice, cozy environment, and we had a great time. We like to call these "character-building" gigs. Definitely brought back memories of those old restaurant/bar sets that none of us has played in quite sometime. Thanks again to those who stuck it out with us!

"Wednesday Nights in Memphis"

As reported here previously, we were honored to be part of Vexar Entertainment's Wednesday Nights in Memphis Benefit CD for the St. Jude Target House. In celebration of the CD's release, we joined about 10 or so other Memphis-based artists for a show at Neil's on Sunday. It was a great time. For those of you who didn't make it out, but still want a copy of the CD (which features the only available version of our unreleased song "Back From Little Rock"), you can click here or head on over to Memphis' Spin Street at Poplar and Highland.

So, you're gearing up for this Thursday's big Tres de Mayo celebration, are ya? Tres de Mayo, you ask? Yes, Tres de Mayo! Just another reason for a fiesta! Perhaps you can think about it as being in training for Cinco de Mayo. Regardless, we'll be playing a rare restaurant gig this Thursday night at the Wolfchase location of El Porton on Highway 64 in Memphis. Come on out and see us from 5:30 until 8:30. After all, you have to eat! May as well dine to the melodic folk-rock stylings of your friends The Central Standards. Right?!