The Flood is Honored as One of the 55 Good Things about West Virginia!

It's been an interesting week for the Family Flood. We learned on Monday when The State Journal announced its list of "55 Good Things About West Virginia" that The 1937 Flood is among those good things. We are so honored to be the first string band ever included in the newspaper's annual list of Mountain State treasures. Writer Tiffney Henson has written a lovely story about the band, and we have a link to it on our website, 1937flood.com. Meanwhile, as you'd expect, this week's regular Wednesday night rehearsal attracted a lot of friends and neighbors who wanted to drop in and celebrate with us. Joe Dobbs' joyous rendition of "Blackberry Blossom" from last night's practice beautifully sums up our mood these days.

Randy Sings Lead

The newest Floodster, Randy Hamilton, is already a hit with Flood regulars for his solid bass playing and his high vocal harmonies, but we've been looking for a song on which we could feature him on lead vocals, and we think we've found it. We've started working on a moody version of "Wayfarin' Stranger" with Randy singing the story. We're only just begun crafting the tune -- we're still hashing out our harmonies to support Randy's lead; Charlie's still looking for something to add to Michelle's wonderful wispy melodies -- but we like to use the podcast to share works in progress, and this is one. It's interesting, too, how the instrumentation is coming together. Check out the solo work by Doug and Sam and especially listen to Dave's first-rate Autoharp work, adding great accents that chime throughout the song. Stay tuned -- we'll keep you posted as this piece evolves.

Serenading The American Queen

Royalty is visiting us this week. After years of absence, The American Queen riverboat is back on the Ohio River and is stopping at our town of Huntington, WV, today as she goes upriver and again on Monday, as she heads back downstream. The town is hoping folks will turn out big time both days to celebrate. If you're listening to this on Thursday, June 26, be sure to drop by Harris Riverfront Park this afternoon and hear our friend Dale Jones and his Backyard Dixie Jazz Stompers. Then mark Monday, June 30, on your calendar -- that's when we in The Flood will be on the riverfront for our turn to serenade the boat crowd. We'll play from 3 to 5 p.m. Figuring nothing says "party" like a ringing banjo, we've invited our old buddy, former Floodster Chuck Romine, to sit in with us for the boat gig. Here's a tune we've been working on for the show.

Slippin' and Slidin' with Jimmy and Bob

Like any other family, the members of The Flood miss each other when they're separated for any length of time. For various reasons, we had to cancel the previous two rehearsal sessions, so when we finally got back together last night, it was joyous, turning a practice into a party. And you could hear in the music, starting with this very first song, our take on an old Jimmy Reed tune. As we serve it up, it's a blues sandwich -- with a smattering of Bob Dylan right in the middle.

Down By the Willow Garden

Here's a track that really captures the informal nature of Wednesday nights around here. For a warmup, we kick off a tune we don't play very often. In fact, you can hear Charlie Bowen and Dave Peyton discussing chords during Doug Chaffin's solo on the mandolin. You can also hear us greeting Joe Dobbs as he arrives. Joe quickly unpacks his fiddle and takes his solo while still standing behind Charlie in the doorway. It was some of Joe's prettiest playing of the night!

Remembrance of Things Past

In the room where we rehearse each week is a bookcase where we've begun to display photos of some of the dear friends who have passed away over the years. Looking into their smiling faces as we play is a real joy, especially in those relatively rare quiet moments -- like this beautiful impromptu duet by Doug Chaffin and Joe Dobbs on a haunting rendition of a Irish melody, "Star of the County Down." You know, on this Memorial Day weekend, it's comforting to thinking about how old friends live on in our memories.

Chuck Brings a New Toy

We invited former Floodster Chuck Romine to sit in with us at a gig this week, knowing his ever-lively tenor banjo would really please the crowd. But at the rehearsal the night before the job, Chuck showed up not with his banjo, but with a new prize: a sweet Martin tenor guitar he had just bought. You can hear him with it on two solos on this take of a David Peyton classic that's also featured on our new CD, a tune he learned from Aunt Jenny Wilson called, "Georgie Buck." Kick it off, Dave.