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.