In the lifecycle of the Canasta website, we feel compelled to update you on our whereabouts and goings-on whenever a Simon’s show approacheth. And approacheth it does: Sunday, January 3rd at 9pm we return to our second home in Andersonville, Simon’s, which allows our friends to see us for free, us to play lots of songs we don’t usually get to play, and everyone to drink as much Glögg as we all can without forgetting the words to “No Diggity.” If you’ve heard of this new thing called Facebook, you can tell us if you are a dweeb or a cool kid by RSVPing here.

If you are internet-stalking us -- and who isn’t, really? -- you’ve had a good couple of months. First we threw together this “Slow Down Chicago” music video for a Chicago Public Library contest. You can even see us in our PJs. (This is what we all look like for 90% of our songwriting retreats, FYI.)

We’re also all tweeting now at http://twitter.com/canastamusic, which is probably the closest you’re going to get to knowing what we’re doing every single day. I know: it’s disappointing that we don’t just have six webcams constantly filming everything we do, but we have to keep some of the mystery alive in this relationship between band and fan-stalker.

And most recently, we were a guest on a new web series, Maybe Hip, which interviews local bands. You can watch our episode here. Examples of topics of conversation that come up when the six of us are interviewed: how the band formed, how to do the Dancing Man, and the proper appellation for a twister. The peeps over at Maybe Hip also host a blog on which we’ll be popping up soon.

We are very close to being able to share lots of exciting news about the new album, but we have to wait until some of it is official. Check back here or on Facebook in January for those updates. But if you’re a talented internet-stalker, you’ll just know already. How creepy is that?