Merry Christmas from The 1937 Flood

This is a special extended holiday issue of The 1937 Flood podcast. Christmas is a time of reunion and we were thrilled last night that Floodster Emeritus Jacob Scarr -- back in town on Christmas break from the college he attends in Colorado -- brought his guitar to sit in with us. He and Randy Hamilton and I were just getting started, when other friends started arriving to enjoy some time with Jacob. Along came Randy Brown with his big old Gibson L-5 and through the other door came blues harmonica great Jim Rumbaugh and his friend Karen Combs, a lady who knows a thing or two about the blues herself. Merry Christmas, folks. Our gift to you is a sampling of this very special evening!

If You Lose Your Money

Nobody ever did the blues better than Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Back in the late 1950s they recorded an incredible album for Smithsonian Folkways called "Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry Sing," which included a number of original compositions, including this one, a song we often use to open or close a rehearsal session, because it's just so much fun.

Musical Conversations

People play music for all kinds of reasons, in all kinds of places. For us, some of the best times come when we're just sitting around playing and listening to each other. It's a kind of musical conversation that sometimes reaches beyond mere words. Last night was a case in point. We hadn't seen each other for a few weeks, and it was good to just sit down and catch up. Want to eavesdrop? Here's a sample.