We're Coming to Taylor Books This Saturday Night!

We’re rolling into Charleston this weekend to play at our favorite capitol city venue, Taylor Books, this Saturday night, and at last night’s rehearsal, we polished up some tunes we want to share, including the craziest sing-along you’re likely to ever hear. Uh-huh — Hey lawdy, mama-mama, hey lawdy, papa-papa, talk about your sing-along! Remember, come on out to Taylor Books for our New Year’s Eve-Eve party, Saturday, Dec. 30, at 226 Capitol Street in beautiful downtown Charleston! It’s all starts at 7:30 p.m.!

Love Letter from Liverpool!

We got a delightful love letter from Liverpool this week! A gentleman named Colin Maddocks — who has the simply perfect stage name of “Grateful Fred”! — dropped us a line to tell us how much he and his bandmates like what we do in The Flood. Colin is in several bands there in Liverpool — the Irish band HotFoot and a ukulele-enriched ensemble called (you’ll love this!) “Grateful Fred’s Ukelear Deterrent” — and they recently had the great 1960s jug band superstar Jim Kweskin perform there during his mini-tour of the UK. Now, that’s how Colin and company found The Flood; while searching for other covers of Kweskin’s classic tune, “Jug Band Music,” he came upon our website and related online goodies, including this podcast. “I love the music you make and the sound you get,” Colin wrote us. “And to think you've been playing together so long is wonderful. We're 4 years old as The Deterrents, so we've a long way to go, but we rehearse on a weekly basis like yourselves and, apart from the music, the friendships we've made are a big bonus.” We couldn’t agree more — and so to celebrate our new transatlantic friendship, here’s the current version of the tune that brought us all together, a fresh batch of “Jug Band Music” cooked up during last night’s Floodishness. Oh and by the way, if you’d like to learn more about the good work that Colin and his crew do in the UK, check out his website, www.gratefulfred.co.uk. Keep on picking, guys!

Waltz on in to Route 60 Saturday Night!

We’re worked up and ready to go for this weekend’s final “Route 60 Saturday Night” of the 2017 season. We have the great Ron Sowell and Ritch Collins on deck as the our guest performers, Dave Peyton is back of the in-house storyteller and, as always, The Flood will be on hand as the house band. Our fiddler Doug Chaffin has worked up a special treat for the evening — his rendition of the beautiful Jay Unger-Molly Mason composition, “Lovers’ Waltz.” Here’s Doug’s treatment of the tune from this week’s Flood rehearsal. Remember, we’re at Route 60 Music Co., 60 Peyton St. in Barboursville, this Saturday night. The show starts at 7 p.m. Admission is $5 and all proceeds go to this month’s charity, Lily’s Place. Come on out — we’ll raise a ruckus and make a memory or two!

The Christmas Song

Looking forward to this month’s Route 60 Saturday Night — our last Route 60 show of the year, slated for Saturday, Dec. 16 — and we’ve been hard at work on some holiday tunes that we can contribute as the house band. Last night we focused on coming up with an arrangement for the great Mel Tormé-Bob Wells classic, “The Christmas Song.” Listen as Michelle takes this tune by the antlers and absolutely owns it, pausing only for Paul’s sweet, sweet guitar solo. You know, Jack Frost is already here, so bring out those chestnuts and let’s get that fire started!

Don't Let Your Deal Go Down

Working on new tunes can be a little tedious — and we are preparing some new material for the upcoming December edition of the new Route 60 Saturday Night show — so sometimes during a rehearsal we just need to step back and clean out our ears with an old familiar tune. That’s why in the middle of learning some Christmas music last night, we stopped for a minute to jump back into our Charlie Poole song bag. Here’s Charlie’s wise advice — which might just resonate with some you holiday shoppers out there — now, don’t let your deal go down, ’til your last gold dollar is gone.

Anthem for Black Friday

This time of year, most musicians are trying to think up sweet Thanksgiving-y tunes to share, you know, those songs of the over-the-river and through-the-woods variety. Nothing wrong with that. But The Flood, well, we’re a forward-looking outfit, so we’re probably the only one’s this week offering you an anthem for Black Friday. Or actually, for Black Friday NIGHT, when your money’s all gone and your mind might just be following it out the door.

Rolling into Rt. 60 Saturday Night, Third Edition!

We’re eager for this weekend’s big gig as The Flood again serves as the house band for the exciting new monthly music variety show, Route 60 Saturday Night! This month’s special guests are veteran singer-songwriters Chet Lowther and Douglas Imbrogno. For The Flood’s part of the show we always try to have tune or two that features our song bird, Michelle Lewis, who also co-hosts the monthly shows with the great Randy Yohe. Here’s one of Michelle’s numbers that we’ve got planned for this Route 60 Saturday Night. Remember, the show this Saturday night, Nov. 18, at Route 60 Music Co., 60 Peyton St., Barboursville, WV. The good times start at 7 p.m. For more information, visit the web site at Route60SaturdayNight.com.

Rob Redux

Last month when singer-songwriter Rob McNurlin was prepping for his set at the new Route 60 Saturday Night show, he brought his tunes to a special Flood rehearsal. Well, he must’ve had a good time, because weeks later he found himself craving another little dose of Floodishness, and we’re so happy he did. Last night Rob came back, out of the dark and damp, for another evening at home for his adopted Flood family.

Just a Little Bit Longer...

There’s just something warm and special in the air whenever we come back together after taking a week off from the rehearsals. It’s almost like we don’t really want the evening to end, as you can probably hear in this final tune from last night’s gathering. Listen to how everybody takes an extra chorus to keep the song going just little bit longer before they have to pack up the instruments, say the goodbyes and head out into the cold, damp dark.

Saturday Night Memories

We made some serious memories for ourselves last weekend, playing at the latest edition of what we hope will be a new tradition for us, performing as the house band for the monthly “Route 60 Saturday Night” music variety show. We even got to wrap up the evening with one of our all-time favorite songs, Walt Aldridge’s beautiful bittersweet ballad, “No Ash Will Burn.” Here it is in the last five minutes of the show, complete with host Randy Yohe’s closing thoughts.

Working with Rob McNurlin for This Saturday Night's Show!

We’re all excited about this weekend and the next edition of the new Route 60 Saturday Night musical variety show. We’re especially happy that the guest artists for this show will be fiddlin’ Bobby Taylor and his group, Kanawha Tradition, and the legendary local singer-songwriter Rob McNurlin. Now, as usual, The Flood is the house band for these monthly shows, but this month Rob has asked us to also back him up in his portion of the show. Last night Rob dropped by The Flood rehearsal so we could work up some arrangement, and we had a house full of friends and neighbors coming by to hear him. Here’s a tune from the evening, the southern gospel standard with that special Rob McNurlin touch: “I’m Working on a Building.”

Here Comes Rt. 60 Saturday Night, Part 2!

We’re gearing up for the next installment of the new Route 60 Saturday Night! show later this month. The Saturday, Oct. 21, edition of this new musical variety show will feature singer-songwriter Rob McNurlin and West Virginia fiddle champion Bobby Taylor as our guest artists and, as always, The Flood as the house band. At last night’s Flood rehearsal, we decided on the tunes we’ll bring to the evening, starting with this great old 1960s rocker to get things started.

Warmin' Up

On most rehearsal nights, our first tune is just a warm-up, an easy romp to get us all on the same page. It’s often a good old blues, something that lets us just kick back and enjoy each other’s company, like this evening’s opener from a week or so ago.

Ain't Misbehavin'

Sometimes at a rehearsal, while we’re thinking about the next song to practice, another old tune will wander into the mix like a happy runaway child. Now, we’ve been playing around with Fats Wallers’ “Ain’t Misbehavin’” for, oh, we-don’t-know-how-long, and sometimes we’ll go a year or more without playing it. The interesting thing is that when the song does pop up again, the arrangement has evolved, as if it’s been humming along in the background all that time, just waiting for its chance to step up again. For last night’s version of the song, Michelle suddenly introduced sweet harmony that seems to have been inspired some great old big-band saxophone section!

One Red Rose

It’s interesting how sometimes a song can sleep in your psyche for years, virtually forgotten, and then suddenly something brings it back into your memory, maybe something you see or something someone says or maybe even just a dream. It was several decades ago that our old bandmate, the late Roger Samples, got so enamored of a beautiful little John Prine tune called “One Red Rose.” Well, this was in the early 1980s, just as Rog was ending his time with The Flood, the band he’d helped form nearly a decade earlier. He and the family would soon be moving from West Virginia to the green hills of Mount Sterling, Ky., so we never really worked out a full arrangement of the tune, and honestly we’d forgotten about the song, or thought we had. And then a few weeks ago, Charlie says he woke up grinning from a sound sleep because literally in a dream he’d heard Roger singing that song again, just as a clear as a bell. We’ve been doing lately at rehearsals, and now whenever we play it, it’s like a little three-minute reunion with our old friend.

Preparing for Route 60 Saturday Night!

As we gear up for this weekend’s big launch of the new Route 60 Saturday Night! concert series, we had a very special rehearsal last night, working on what The Flood will contribute as the show’s house band. On hand for the evening was Randy Yohe, who will co-host the monthly 90-minute music variety shows with our Michelle Lewis. You know, we are always amazed at how veteran broadcasters like Randy and Michelle are so comfortable ad libbing in front of a mike. Just listen as the two of them practice their patter for how we are likely this start the show this Saturday night. Remember, it’s this Saturday night at Route 60 Music Co., 60 Peyton St., in Barboursville. The fun starts at 7 p.m. It’s a $5 admission charge and all proceeds go to the Facing Hunger Foodbank of Huntington. Good times for a good cause!

Misty, Indeed

As our friend and rehearsal night regular Rose Riter noted last night, sometimes it feels like the music calls for a little smoke in the air to add a certain misty element to the room. Well, we gave up the nasty cigarette habit years ago, but we did appreciate the sentiment, especially when Doug kicked off this particular tune for Michelle’s lovely vocals. Misty, indeed.

Wayfarin' Stranger

Like many band, we often will work hard on a song to get it ready for a show or for a recording, and then once the show or recording session is done, the song sort of drifts into the background again. A frequent comment at our weekly rehearsals after we happen to revisit a good old tune is, “Now, folks, we can’t let that one get away!” Well, we all voted that way last night when we happened back upon a Randy Hamilton special, Randy’s beautiful rendering of “Wayfarin’ Stranger.” We definitely aren’t letting this one get away.

The Moon!

The moon was much on our minds this week, as the solar eclipse brought people out to the streets to party like pagans. In fact, we were still having lunar thoughts last night at the rehearsal, trying decide on which of The Flood’s many moon tunes to use to commemorate the event, when — as usual — Michelle nailed it. Sing it, girl!

Four Songs from the Taylor Books Gig!

What an excellent evening we had last weekend at Taylor Books in Charleston. Hands down, it’s one of our all-time favorite venues. Every time we play there, we find a fun, warm crowd, so supportive, which encouraged us this time to roll out two hours worth of all-new songs. So, for this week’s podcast we’ll do a little something different. Here’s a mini-concert: four songs from last weekend’s sweet gig. Enjoy!

Come Raise a Ruckus with Us in Charleston!

The Family Flood is excited about rolling into downtown Charleston this Saturday night. Starting at 7:30, we’ll be playing at Taylor Books at 226 Capitol Street, raising a ruckus. In fact, we’ve even got a tune about that—this old folk song that our band manager, Pamela Bowen, recommended to us earlier this year — all about the ruckus to be raised.

I Almost Lost My Mind

One of the joys of this summer has been working up a Flood version of a great old Ivory Joe Hunter song. For years, we’ve wanted to do this 1950 mega-hit, “I Almost Lost My Mind,” but it took this summer and Michelle and Randy’s rich and sexy harmonies to make it happen, as you’ll hear in this track from last night’s rehearsal. It’s one of the new numbers we’ll be doing later this month when we play at Taylor Books in Charleston. Mark your calendar: We’ll be there Saturday night, Aug. 12.

Hunting Harmonies

This week’s podcast does something a little different. Thought you might like to go behind the scenes and hear what goes into the arrangements. Last night’s rehearsal focused primarily on vocals, as we spent the evening hunting for harmonies for some of the new tunes we’ve been working on. Here are snippets of two songs. Listen to the color that Randy and Michelle’s voices bring to these new numbers.

West Virginia Chose Me

We’re very excited about the show we’re putting together to perform in Charleston next month. When we appear at Taylor Books on Saturday night, Aug. 12, we want to have an all-new show, featuring tunes we’ve not played in public before. It’s a challenge, but, hey, we like challenges. And it’s giving us a chance to learn some great new songs, including some classics we’ve always meant to bring into The Flood repertoire. For instance, our all-time favorite love song to The Mountain State has always been “West Virginia Chose Me,” a work created a couple of decades ago by our old friend, writer/composer Colleen Anderson. It says everything we feel about our native soil. Here Michelle leads us through our first take on Colleen’s beautiful song at last night’s rehearsal.

Animal Husbandry

Paul Martin has brought so many good things to the band. Stellar picking. Stunning vocals. A downright spooky insight into beautiful harmonies. And only recently have we learned that he also has a brilliant understanding of agribusiness and a rare — I say, I say — RARE insight into animal husbandry. Take a listen.

Down By the Sally Gardens ... Again

Some times a tune can have a second act. It was 16 years ago that Doug and Charlie recorded “Down By the Sally Gardens” with Joe and David for The Flood’s first very CD. Over the past decade and a half,  the old Irish tune has cropped up occasionally in Flood shows and at rehearsals, but lately, because of such rich new blood in The Flood, the song has some new attention. Listen in this rendition from a recent rehearsal how Paul and Sam share the beautiful melody line with Doug in the solo sections. Listen to Randy’s rock solid bass line and check out Michelle’s lovely harmonies with Charlie’s vocal lead. “Sally Gardens” has been reborn!

Can You Run?

Since we finished our latest CD (“Live, In Concert”) earlier this year, we’ve been hard at work learning a whole slew of new tunes which we aim to roll out at shows later this summer and in the fall. One of our favorites in the new bunch is this little Civil War vignette penned by Kentucky’s young master songwriter Chris Stapleton. Our Randy Hamilton, who brought us the song, is singing the lead here, with cool harmony support by Michelle Lewis and Paul Martin. Oh, check out Doug Chaffin’s fiddling; he was born to play this tune! Here’s Chris Stapleton’s “Can You Run?”

Happy birthday, Mountain Mama

We always try to take note of West Virginia’s birthday, and since last night’s rehearsal just happened to fall on West Virginia Day, we had to do at least one shoutout for our home state. Instead of singing “Happy Birthday” to our Mountain Mama, we chose this composition by one of West Virginia’s most favorite daughter, the late, great Hazel Dickens, and her song, “West Virginia, My Home.”

Darlin' Companion

To keep our cred as West Virginia’s most eclectic string band, we feel obliged to continue drawing material from as many diverse sources as possible, such as, in this case, the 1960s’ most electrified jug band. John Sebastian’s folk rock group called “The Lovin’ Spoonful,” which took its name from a great Mississippi John Hurt song (but that’s another story), was also quite eclectic. It drew many of its melodies and themes from early 20th century roots music, from jug band to country. The Flood has just started playing with this wonderful old John Sebastian composition, “Darlin’ Companion.” Here's where's Flood arrangement stands, as played at last night's rehearsal.

Friendly Ghosts

On some nights — our lucky ones — the ghosts come out during our rehearsals, and one of the friendliest is the spirit of our old friend, the late great fiddler J.P. Fraley. Now, our Doug Chaffin played with J.P. for many, many years and learned scores of fiddle tunes from him. Perhaps our finest musical gift from J.P. was his teaching everyone the beautiful Pat Shaw composition, “Margaret’s Waltz.” Here, in the sweetest moment from last night, is Doug’s rendering of this gorgeous tune, with assistance from Paul Martin and Sam St. Clair.

Blue Moon Surprise

Some things happen only once in a blue moon, but a great thing about music is that you can have a blue moon whenever you want one. And some — like this one — come with a surprise ending. This particular surprise is the best kind because it was a surprise to us as well. Enjoy!

Down By the River Side

We’re so happy to be invited back to play again at Huntington’s newest music festival, the Jewel City Jamboree, down at Harris Riverfront Park. We’re set to play Saturday night at 6, but come early! Our friends Wiley Dew play at 4 and then good buddy Rob McNurlin and his Beatnik Cowboys are on stage at 5. It’s going to be a great weekend of music down by the river side! Here’s a tune The Flood will be including in our 60-minute set.

We're at Bahnhof next Tuesday night, May 23!

We want to tell you about a special gig we have next week. We’re thrilled to be invited to play at Bahnhof, Huntington's hottest new restaurant at 745 7th Avenue. If you've been planning to check out the venue everyone's talking about -- or if you're ALREADY a Bahnhof fan -- come on out for this special Tuesday night, May 23, starting at 7:30 p.m. Weather permitting, we'll be pickin' on the patio! If the weather gods don’t cooperate, we’ll be inside. Either way, we’ll have a ball. And you will too if you join us. We might even have a special guest. Who? The hint is in this tune! Enjoy.

Thinking about the Civil War

The fascination with the American Civil War continues a century and half after Appomattox. We've got it too. About a year ago, Paul Martin brought us this tune -- "The Last Time (You'll See Jenny)" -- and we've been listening as the arrangement grows and evolves each week. Here's our latest take on the song as recorded at last night's weekly rehearsal. That's Paul singing the lead and everyone else helping out on the harmonies and the solos.

Quorum

Well, we just barely had a quorum for last night's rehearsal. Suddenly, sicknesses of assorted stripe have struck us, but as we say around here, wherever two or more gather in its name, it is The Flood, and last night we had two plus two, which is just enough for some pre-summertime fun.

I Almost Lost My Mind

Arrangements while you wait! One of the things I love about rehearsing each week is that, for better or worse, we all begin to think alike … and, hey, mostly that's for the better! Now, all day long yesterday, I had a great old Ivory Joe Hunter tune stuck in my head, his 1950 hit song called "I Almost Lost My Mind." I started playing it last night at the practice session and, within minutes, an arrangement started coming to together. Michelle and Randy began finding great harmony vocals, Sam fell into a just natural harmonica groove, while for Doug… well, it brought back fond memories for Doug, of when he did that song with the bands he played with as a teenager when the song was new and the hottest tune on the radio.

Fiddlin' Doug Chaffin

Doug Chaffin has worn so many different hats in this band. When he joined up nearly 20 years ago, he played that driving upright bass behind the big guns of Joe Dobbs and Chuck Romine, Dave Peyton and Sam St. Clair. Later, when Dave Ball and then Randy Hamilton stepped in on bass, Doug moved to mandolin, trading licks with our young guitar wiz Jacob Scarr. After Jacob had to leave us to go to college, Doug added sweet guitar solos to his regular contributions. Lately, with the sad loss of our long-time bandmate Joe Dobbs, Doug's been dusting off his fiddle so well. Let's hear a few fiddle tunes from recent weeks.

We're At Route 60 Music Co. This Saturday Night!

The Flood will be out this Saturday night for a big benefit concert at Route 60 Music Co. in Barboursville to help fill the shelves of the Facing Hunger Food Bank. Admission to the show will be three cans or boxes of nonperishable food (or at least a five dollar donation.) We'll be playing songs from our new CD, "Live, In Concert," as well as some new things we've been working lately. The show starts at 7:30 Saturday night at 60 Peyton St. in Barboursville. Here's one of tunes we're working up for the evening.

Sentimental Journey

So, you've got your sentimental songs. And you've got your train songs. And when you've got a sentimental song about trains, it's gotta be a winner. Here's a fun moment from a recent rehearsal. Listen to Michelle and Charlie switching lead and harmony vocals between the verses and the bridge. Listen to Doug lay a lovely extended solo with that new sweet little Paul Reed Smith guitar of his. And listen to Randy tie all together with a funky Addams Family lick. Yep, we're on a sentimental journey.

Hey, Congratulations, Norman and Carol!

We had some great news last night. In the middle of our weekly rehearsal, two old friends, long-time Flood fans Norman Davis and Carol Angle, announced that, hey, they are getting married next month! We love these two so much, and joyous news deserves a joyous tune. Here's the very next song we played to welcome the new couple-to-be. Congratulations, dear friends.

Louise Stops By

It was our old friend Bill Hoke who was the first one we ever heard singing this great Paul Siebel composition. It was a party in the early 1970s. We'd been playing for hours, with a lot of loud and rowdy fiddle and banjo tunes that made the walls rattle. Then, during a break -- when the pickers had stopped to open new bottles -- Bill picked up his guitar and quietly started playing a tune called "Louise." We have loved that song ever since, and on special nights like last night, Louise, like a sad-eyed friendly spirit, comes 'round again. Here Paul and Doug handle the solos, and then Randy and Paul jump in on the vocal harmonies for the sweetest moment of the evening.

Dink's Song

More than a hundred years ago, musicologist John Lomax recorded an African American woman they called "Dink" singing a song as she washed her man's clothes in a work camp on the banks of a river near Houston, Texas. Forty years later, in 1945, the great Josh White put it on his first album. Since then, it's been recorded by scores of performers, sometimes as "Fare Thee Well," but most often simply as "Dink's Song."

Since I Fell For You. Again.

Sometimes a song walks right back into your life. About a decade ago, we were often playing that great old Lenny Welch tune from the mid-1960s, "Since I Fell for You," and then, for some reason, the song seemed to fall out of our repertoire. Nobody knew why, but we just didn't play anymore. 'Til last night. When Michelle Lewis came in from the wind and rain for our weekly rehearsal, that great old jazz standard strolled in right behind her. And we're so glad it did. Welcome home!

Remembering Bob Toothman

In The Flood's formative years, we used to have big music parties that went on all weekend long, and a highlight of the do was always when we got big Bob Toothman to play his special version of "Sister Kate." He's the man we learned it from. We still remember a year or so before Bob passed away his stopping by a Flood practice and just grinning all over himself at our slightly sexier version of his classic tune. These days, we still play around with "Sister Kate." Here's a take from a few weeks ago, with solos by Doug, Paul and Sam.

The Spirit of Hokum Lives On

Songwriters are our patron saints, and we've got a bunch of 'em in The Flood. Bob Dylan and John Prine. Jean Ritchie and Hazel Dickens. Hoagie Carmichael and Fats Waller. Two others you might not be as familiar with -- Tampa Red and Georgia Tom -- have also been influencing us for decades. Now, back in the mid-1970s, Roger Samples and Charlie Bowen stumbled upon some raucous old 1920s recordings of Tampa Red and Georgia's Tom's Chicago group called The Famous Hokum Boys. Rog and Charlie introduced Dave Peyton and Joe Dobbs to these silly, happy tunes, and the rest, as they say, is hysteria. Well, here's a recording from a rehearsal just a few weeks ago that shows that in the latest incarnation of The Flood, that spirit of hokum is still alive and well.

This Week's Freebie from The 1937 Flood

This week's freebie features our Valentine's Day (plus one) special.

Flood sweetheart Michelle Lewis brought valentines to the table last night. Now, we can't give you any of the Krispy Kreme donuts she and her mom brought in -- they're all gone this morning -- but we can share one of Michelle's even sweeter gifts: a tune for last night.

She had us all following her, walkin' after midnight. Click to hear the tune.

Valentines from Michelle

Flood sweetheart Michelle Lewis brought valentines to the table last night. Now, we can't give you any of the Krispy Kreme donuts she and her mom brought in -- they're all gone this morning -- but we can share one of Michelle's even sweeter gifts: a tune for last night. She had us all following her, walkin' after midnight.

Reflections of My Life

We were already having a great rehearsal last night when Paul and Randy, our newest Floodsters, trotted out a tune that just shook the room. Back in 1969, a Scottish band called Marmalade released an original composition, "Reflections of My Life," that became an instant hit around the globe, in part because it spoke of life in an uncertain age. Last night we were all struck by how the song resonates in our time too. Now, we like to use these podcasts to sometimes give you a taste of a tune before the full arrangement gets worked out. This is a case in point. "Reflections" is likely to be on The Flood's set list often in the months to come, and this is where it starts.

To All Our Dear Companions

A band that's been around for more than 40 has a pretty big extended family -- current members, former members, brothers and sisters, moms and dads, long-time buddies and new friends just now coming through the door. On an especially chatty evening like last night, the stories we tell each other at a rehearsal can claim just about as much times as the songs we play. Well, it occurs to us that one particular tune we do -- one we've played at events as diverse as happy reunions and, well, more often at bittersweet departures -- comes very close to crystallizing that feeling of such a long communion. Here's to all our dear companions.

Before the Next Teardrop Falls

One of the joys in rehearsing each week is watching and listening as new tunes become Flood tunes. Now, a new song sometimes feels like a new pair shoes, promising but still pinching. Other times, though, that new tune immediately feels like a comfortable old pair of slippers. Here's a case in point. At home over the weekend, Doug Chaffin started picking that old Freddy Fender standard, "Before the Next Teardrop Falls." Doug and Charlie tried it out as an instrumental on Monday night during a jam session at Doug's house. Then yesterday morning Charlie went on the Internet and printed out the lyrics so he could have them waiting for Michelle when she and the guys arrived last night for the weekly practice. As we ran through the new number, we immediately realized we needed to transpose it into a better key, and here's the result. It's second take on the tune, with solos by Doug, Paul and Sam, harmonies by Randy and Charlie and, of course, Michelle's beautiful lead.

Douglas Be Good!

It's interesting sometimes what the last tune of the evening is. If it's been an especially neat session, we just don't want to give in to the tyranny of the clock and call it quits, and somebody -- usually Charlie -- will say, "Aw, let's do this one more." However, on this particular evening, it was Doug Chaffin who kept the night going just a little bit longer by launching into one of his favorite tunes, Gershwin's "Lady Be Good," and the result? One of the finest moments of the night!

Coming to Taylor Books This Saturday!

We are so looking forward to this Saturday night's gig. We're playing at one of our favorite venues, Charleston's beautiful, exciting Taylor Books at 226 Capitol Street. Last night we finalized the set list for the show, which starts at 7:30. Come on out, Charleston, and party like a Floodster waaaaaay downtown!

Angel of the Night

Our newest bandmates -- Randy Hamilton and Paul Martin -- have brought us such riches: excellent musicianship, extraordinary vocals (leads and harmonies) and warm, lasting friendship. They're also introducing us to some exciting new songs. For instance, last night we greeted the new year with a song by the wonderful Kentucky-born singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton, who these days routinely sweeps award ceremonies. On this track, that's Randy on lead vocal. And our friend Kim Kartes sits in to join Paul with some great harmony on the choruses. Also you'll hear Jacob Scarr on the guitar solo, as he got in one more evening with the Family Flood before heading back to law school in Colorado at the end of the week. So, this is our first take of Chris Stapleton's "Angel of the Night."