It all started with an English composition assignment. On the first day of classes at Iowa State University, CW Smith’s professor, Kiki Classen, asked each student to bring in a sample of his or her prior composition work: something they felt was indicative of their ability and writing style.

CW brought in a meticulously scored copy of his song, “The Myth (I Used to Believe).” Ms. Classen wasn’t trained in music, and wasn’t at all sure how to interpret CW’s submission. She passed it on to her husband, Rob Straughn, a self-taught folk-rock musician, who unfortunately didn’t read music either.

Rob decided instead to meet CW, and the two struck up a musical partnership that has lasted now for over 25 years. They wrote songs in CW’s dorm room, recording demos on a cassette recorder that were then re-arranged and re-recorded by CW’s band Sound System.

By the end of 1988, CW had transferred to Simpson College, and Rob had moved back to his home town of Madison. The two would send lyrics, chord diagrams and cassette tapes back and forth through the mail, each expanding on the ideas of the other. When Rob came to Iowa at the end of the year, the two set about their first collaborative recording project. The result was the audubon society, a self-titled release that explored their acoustic-rock and folk roots and their more experimental sides as well.

In the following years, the audubon society recorded two more albums, Ancient Blue and The Princess, then a fourth, Ackworth, after renaming themselves Misunderstanding. The new name gave them the freedom to explore more advanced recording techniques and experimental arrangements than would have been appropriate in the acoustic mindset of the audubon society.

By 1996, CW had begun building a recording studio with longtime friend and Sound System alumnus Steve Hudspeth. CW and Rob continued to write and record, but their style and technique continued to evolve. Another new name offered a clean break from the past. They had become Smith & Straughn.