Celebrating Autumn '15

We're having a beautiful fall here in the Ohio Valley. Well, shoot, all Appalachian autumns are gorgeous. But, as October 2015 rolls gently to its conclusion, the band was in a decidedly quiet autumnal mood last night, and nobody expressed it better than our Michelle Lewis.

All About That Bass

You know, in The Flood, we're all about that bass. For instance, last night, our band manager, Pamela Bowen, told a joke she'd found on Facebook about the therapeutic effects of bass playing when it comes to marriage counseling, of all things, before you knew it, the effects of that fine story carried over right into Randy Hamilton's bass solo in the very next tune we played. And... well, here -- listen for yourself.

Prelude to Pie

We were so pleased with a surprise visit last night by Joe Dobbs' daughter, Diane Johnson, who arrived with Margaret Ray bearing not only smiles and hugs and stories, but also some phenomenal homemade apple pie, still warm from the oven. Happy to sing for our supper, we played for an hour -- pretty amazing self-control, we thought -- 'til finally we couldn't wait any longer. This was the final pre-pie selection. If it seems a little faster than usual, well, you now know why.

Still Ain't Misbehavin'

If there was one of the great composers from the '20s and '30s whom we would resurrect in a heartbeat, it would have to be the incomparable Fats Waller. We've never met a Fats Waller tune we didn't love, especially this one. The late, great Joe Dobbs got The Flood playing "Ain't Misbehavin'" probably, oh, two decades ago now and it still shows up often at our rehearsals and our shows.

Eager for the Dixieland Jam

For many years each spring, The Flood played one of its all-time favorite gigs, the Saturday morning breakfast session for the annual Coon-Sanders Nighthawks Bash, a gathering of traditional jazz fans in downtown Huntington. Those extraordinary players of Dixieland era music invited us to share a set of jug band tunes that come from the same happy time period. Sadly this venerable assembly discontinued a few years back, but fans missed it so much that good old Dale Jones has set up a Dixieland jam session this weekend and the Flood's on the bill! At our rehearsal earlier this week, we ran through some tunes for the set.