"Murder of Mountains"

 The late Dave Peyton inspired Charlie Bowen to write this song. Railing against the relentless ravaging of our state, he’d say, “Sometimes I think the worst thing that ever happened to West Virginia was when somebody discovered coal.” And what bothered him almost as much was the paralyzing grief felt by generations of Mountain State natives, a communal sorrow for not being able to stop the rape of our home.

"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"

 An old friend, Jim Strother, once said, “Remember back when you’d see a fella ramblin’ along carrying a guitar case, and he’d have his coat collar turned up against the wind and a cap pulled down over his eyes. With just one look you knew everything you needed to know about that guy.” And the soundtrack in your head when you saw that was always an early Bob Dylan tune, like this one.

"Yellow Dog Blues"

 There’s nothing like a good old train song to capture the crossroads in a man or a woman’s life. Here’s one of the best in our repertoire.

 

"This Land Is Your Land"

 We’re celebrating America’s 250th birthday with Woody Guthrie’s best-loved tune, a song that many of us think ought to be the national anthem. And we’re happy to be joined on this week’s podcast by Cap’n John Ace, who rambled into the band room from Alexandria, Va., by way of Florida with Floodster Emeritus Dave “Bub” Ball.

"Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues

 When the room needs a respite from the band’s frequent fare of loud and raucous tunes, Randy Hamilton and Danny Cox always have just what the doctor ordered.

"Brown's Ferry Blues"

Dave Peyton, Roger Samples and Charlie Bowen used to play this tune back in the ‘70s, but it’s only recently come back into the Floodipshere. Here’s the 1933 signature tune of The Delmore Brothers, featuring Danny Cox’s guitar and Jack Nuckols’ fiddle.
 

"I Am a Pilgrim"

 Our Flood brother Danny Cox and his sweet wife Tami are on vacation this week, but before they hit to the road, we had to give Dan a good Flood set-off. Here’s a little traveling music, the last tune of the evening’s rehearsal.

"Opus One"

 We’ve said it before. We’ll say it again. Much of the music made at our weekly rehearsals is conversations that aren’t burdened with so many words. This particular conversation is saying, “Damn, man, it’s good to see y’all again!”

"Tear It Down"

 A lot of the hokum tunes that The Flood has always loved were born far to the south of us, in place like Memphis and New Orleans. So it’s always a treat to find a song that grew a little closer to home. This tune traces back to a youngster named Bob Coleman — Kid Cole, they called him — from the west side of Cincinnati. It was 98 years ago this very month that Bob recorded it in Chicago.

"Just a Closer Walk with Thee"

 Since it’s Memorial Day weekend, we wanted to offer something appropriate in this week’s podcast. Of course, in the Floodisphere, our spiritual inclinations generally lean more to a rambunctious New Orleans jazz funeral than to a little church in the wildwood. So, here’s jubilant little hymn from your friends in The Flood.

"Jamaica Say You Will"

 The Flood band room is usually a rather raucous place —rocking tunes, loud talk, lots of laughter — but often that mood can turn on a dime to something softer, even almost fragile, like this old Jackson Browne song for years

"(Sittin' Back) Lovin' You"

 This great late-‘60s Lovin’ Spoonful tune is the perfect opportunity to answer listeners’ requests for another little sample from Danny Cox’s recent band room reunion with his old buddy Bobby Murnahan. Lend an ear to Dan and Bob trading choruses at the end of this take on “(Sittin’ Back) Lovin’ You.”

Deep Ellum Blues

 We knew the band room was going to rock as soon as we saw our Danny Cox was bringing along his life-long buddy, guitarist Bobby Murnahan, who was visiting from Colorado. Just listen to Bobby and Danny trading choruses as we all ride this great old Texas blues at last week’s rehearsal.

"One Red Rose"

 A half dozen years after his death at beginning of the horrid Covid pandemic, songwriter John Prine is still very much on our minds. Here’s one of The Flood’s favorite John Prine songs.

"Come All Ye Fair and Tender Maidens"

 Our rendering of this ancient bittersweet song of love and loss dates back more than 45 years now, but each times we play it, it seems as new and fresh as a summer evening.

"Ready for the Times to Get Better"

 Last month one of our heroes — guitarist Tommy Emmanuel — released a special rendition of this song in honor of another of our heroes — Doc Watson — and hearing Tommy’s playing of it has impacted our take on the tune. Here’s our latest version of “Ready for the Times to Get Better.”

Lovin' You Would Be So Good for Me"

 The Flood started playing around with hokum music — those good old jug band tunes from the 1920s — about a half century ago, but it took another 20 years for us to feel confident enough to try to write one of those kind of songs ourselves. Charlie started putting this tune together back in the early 1990s, but then it took another 30 years for us to feel like we could play it. The song didn’t really start coming together until Jack Nuckols joined the band. Who knew that the spark we were waiting for was Jack’s spectacular spoon playing to finally reach that jug band junction? See what you think.

"The Answer is You"

 Most love songs are about young love, and that’s special, but it’s nothing compared to love that has aged like fine wine. Here’s a song to all those champion life-long lovers out there.

"July, You're a Woman"

 This old John Stewart composition came to us in the very first hours of The Flood’s origin story. And now, a half century later, darned if it hasn’t rolled back into our lives.

"Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor"

 We do a version of this song that most people don’t sing. We got our inspiration from an old Folkways album that Rolf Cahn and Eric von Schmidt recorded back in 1961.