"Payday"

 Purists tell us this doesn’t sound much like Mississippi John Hurt’s original, but that’s pretty much by design. Once we learn a song, we usually stop listening to the original so it’s free to find its own form in the Floodisphere. At least, that’s our take on what Pete Seeger’s folklorist father called “the folk process.”

"I Am a Pilgrim"

 This great old song is generally performed with mellow reverence by country and folk artists as well as by many gospel groups. However, ever since we started doing the tune a couple of years ago, The Flood has taken its cue to the song’s original recording a hundred years ago. Like the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet which recorded it in 1924, we like to put a little cut its strut and a glide in its stride.

"Two Nineteen Blues"

 For folks who know The Flood only from its studio albums, this is the first tune they may have ever heard from the band. This rollicking Bob Gibson composition was what the guys played on the opening track of their very first commercial album nearly a quarter of a century ago now. A lot changes in a band over the decades, but good old tunes are like cherished letters from home. Here’s a track from a  recent rehearsal, with solos by everyone in the room.

"Just a Closer Walk with Thee"

 Recently Danny Cox read in our newsletter, “Flood Watch,” how the band played “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” at a friend’s memorial service 20 years ago, and he said, “Hey, why don’t we do that song anymore?” Well, why indeed? So lately we’ve been we’ve dusting it off and just listen to the soulful, sassy spin that the guys are putting on this great old jazz standard! Here’s a take from last week’s rehearsal.

"One Too Many Mornings"

 Charlie started doing this song back in college to have something to sing and play to the jam sessions in the dorms. So it was one of the songs he brought along in that summer and fall 50 years ago when Dave, Roger and he started The Flood. And this lonely, lovely Dylan tune is still welcome at Flood gatherings, as it was last week.

"Hey Baby"

 The Flood time machine touched down in 1961 last week to toy with a tune from our youth.

"Somebody's Been Using That Thing"

If there's such a thing as a "standard" in jug band music, this tune is certainly one of them. Our heroes, the Hokum Boys, recorded it back in 1935, and we've always loved it, but The Flood didn't get around to doing it until back in 2009 when Joe Dobbs recommended it. That was right after he’d received a recording of it by old buddy, Ed Light, and his DC-area band with one great name: The All New Genetically Altered Jug Band. We've been Floodifying it ever since.