Stormy Weather

Sometimes the tunes between the tunes are the most memorable of an evening. These in-between songs are the ones that crop up spontaneously between the ones we had planned to work on at that particular rehearsal. Here’s one from last night. Talk of dodging days of summer storms in the valley led to a raucous, impromptu rendition of this 1933 Harold Arlen composition. Michelle rocks the vocals, as always, and check out the happy solos by Doug on fiddle and Paul on guitar. Oh, we might never do this classic torch song like this again, but it was a fun moment last night.

Trouble in Mind

Well, you don’t usually turn to the blues for optimism. That’s why we’ve always loved the old blues number “Trouble in Mind,” which say right up front, “I’m blue, but I won’t be blue always, ‘cause the sun’s gonna shine in my backdoor someday.” Uh-huh. Here’s a take on that tune from a Flood rehearsal a few weeks back, an especially sweet evening when our good buddy Jim Rumbaugh stopped by to play bass with us, along with nifty solos by Doug, Sam and Paul.

Ramblin' Boy

We have so much fun as the house band for the Route 60 Saturday Night variety show each month, and lately our favorite part has been getting you in the audience singing along with us on a good old folk song or two. We have another show this weekend. and here’s the tune we plan to end the evening with. Take a listen, learn the chorus and then come on out Saturday night and sing it us with! Here, from last night’s rehearsal, is our rendition of the great Tom Paxton’s “Ramblin’ Boy.” Remember, it’s Route 60 Saturday Night, THIS Saturday night at Route 60 Music Co., 60 Peyton Street, in Barboursville. This month’s guest artists are Karen Combs and Jesse Crawford. The 90-minute show starts 7 p.m. Admission is $5 and all proceeds go to a local charity. Come on out for good times for a good cause!

My Blue Heaven

We had a wonderful evening playing at Woodlands retirement community last weekend — we always do have fun there — and a special time whenever we go up the hill to Woodlands is the half hour or so before the show when we get to go back to do some tunes for the folks in the health care unit. These are residents who are right now aren’t physically up to coming down to the concert hall for our regular show, so we bring a bit of the show to them. Every time it is such a treat for us to get them singing along on songs from their youth — and from ours too. A particular favorite from last weekend’s visit was Michelle’s rocking rendition of “My Blue Heaven,” which was a hit for the great Gene Austin more than 90 years ago. And we revisit the song here in these moments from last night’s weekly rehearsal.