Come All Ye Fair and Tender Maidens

It’s been about 40 years ago now that Roger Samples and I sat in the kitchen on a hot summer night and came up with this arrangement of an old Appalachian ballad we both loved. Now, this particular version of the song settled in my memory over the years, coming out again only occasionally. For instance, it did make it onto The Flood’s first commercial CD back in 2001, but then went back into hiding for another decade or two. Well, last night was one of those evening when it made another rare re-appearance. Here’s “Come All Ye Fair and Tender Maidens,” pretty much as Rog envisioned in all those years ago.

Red Apple Rag

A couple times at our weekly rehearsals nowadays, we have fun listening to Doug and Paul trade licks on good old traditional instrumental tunes, from waltzes to what Grandpa used to called “party tunes.” Here’s one — Doug’s unique rendition of a great old fiddle tune, which last night got an extra jolt of joy by old buddy Chuck Romine who dropped by to help out on the number with his tenor banjo. Here’s “Red Apple Rag.”

Practice Your Sing-Along!

When we’re putting together the songs we plan to do at our gig as the house band for the monthly Route 60 Saturday Night show, as we are this weekend, we’re always on the lookout for a tune or two that can be a sing-along for the audience. Well, one of The Flood’s all-time favorite sing-alongs is this great old Charlie Poole song, “Didn’t He Ramble?” And here it is — with solos by Doug and Paul — just for you, so you can practice on it before coming out to the show this Saturday night. And if want to sharpen your harmonies for the sing-along, listen to what Michelle and Randy are doing with the choruses here. Fun stuff! Remember, it’s Route 60 Saturday Night, THIS Saturday night, May 18, at Route 60 Music Co., 60 Peyton St., in Barboursville. Our guest artists this month are Colten Settle and Wiley Dew. The show starts at 7 p.m. Admission is $5, and this month all proceeds go to help the good works of Dress for Success. Good times for a good cause.

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

The Flood doesn’t do many country-western tunes, but some songs rise above categorization. They're just bigger than their genre, and that includes, well, just about everything written and sung by the great Hank Williams. A few years back, we started playing around with Hank’s hauntingly beautiful “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” but for the longest time the song just didn’t quite click for us, not, that is, until Michelle claimed it for her own. Here’s a Michelle Lewis special from a rehearsal just a couple of weeks ago.

Picking with Paddy King

We met a phenomenal young fiddler named Paddy King last weekend when former Floodster Dave Ball introduced us to him at the Jewel City Jamboree and he joined us on stage for our part of the show. Needless to say, Paddy King just lit up the set with some of the most imaginative fiddling we’ve ever heard. Well, last night we had a ball when Dave brought the 24-year-old Floridian by the weekly rehearsal for two hours of memorable music. Here’s an especially tasty bit from the evening. Michelle’s “Summertime” takes on a whole new life dwith three choruses by Paddy midway through the tune. We just couldn’t get enough. And, of course, for The Flood we couldn’t help but think about much our old comrade, the late fiddler Joe Dobbs, would have loved picking with Paddy King, so before the night was over we had to ask him to visit one of Joe’s signature fiddle tunes, “Whisky Before Breakfast.”