Remembering Ramblin' Boy Bob McCoy

Today's the birthday of one of our favorite people. Bob McCoy would have been 71 today, but we lost him -- gosh, could it be more than four years ago now? At last night's rehearsal, we paused for a Bob Moment, singing his favorite song. These days, we never do Tom Paxton's great "Ramblin' Boy" without thinking Bob McCoy's smile that lit up the room. Bob, here's to you, buddy.

Revisiting Peggy Day

"Peggy Day" is one of the stepchildren of Bob Dylan's great songbook. The tune's only claim to fame is that it was the B-side when Bob released "Lay, Lady, Lay" as a single in the summer of '69. Unlike a lot of Dylan lyrics, "Peggy Day" has no intriguing back story or legend that we've ever heard. Dylan probably just tossed it off as filler when he was finishing up the great "Nashville Skyline" album all those years ago. But the song has always been a favorite for The Flood, especially in recent years, as Michelle Lewis has been perfecting her wonderful vocal harmony part. Last night everybody took a turn on the tune in a particularly happy moment of the very happy rehearsal.

Remembering J.P.

The great fiddler J.P. Fraley died three years ago, but still is very much an influential part of our Appalachian world, and The Flood has always felt fortunate to have a direct connection to J.P. through Doug Chaffin. Doug played and traveled with J.P. and his wife Annadeen for decades and is a walking encyclopedia of J.P. tunes and stories. Doug played on J.P.'s 1998 twin fiddle CD with Betty Vornbrock, and at a quiet moment at last night's rehearsal, Doug took up his guitar to play this remembrance of a classic tune from that album, the beautiful "Ook-Pik Waltz."

Three Tunes from the Woodlands Gig

Last weekend we had a ball playing at Woodlands, a wonderful retirement community on a hilltop overlooking our hometown of Huntington, West Virginia. Friday night the folks filled the hall, singing and laughing with us! Here are a few tunes from that evening, including some featured solos by our guest artists, Sherri Hamilton on piano and Paul Martin on mandolin. And we wrap up the podcast with a beautiful Michelle Lewis number. You'll even hear Michelle a little out of breath at the end, as a result of dancing with one of the residents during her performance. What a great night!

Momentos from "Tom Sawyer"

We made some excellent memories for ourselves earlier this month, playing the pre-show each night for Marshall University's wonderful theater production of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." Before we press these mementos into the big Flood scrapbook, we thought we'd share a couple of the moments with our podcast family. We thank our old friend Kevin Bannon, that tireless stage and sound technician at Marshall, for making this quick recording of the pre-show on the closing night of the play.

Michelle's Tune for "Tom Sawyer"

All this week, The Flood is on stage at Marshall University's Joan C. Edwards Playhouse, doing the pre-show for the university theater's magnificent staging of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," and we're having a ball. It is an unadulterated delight to be around these bright, talented, energetic performers, watching them light up the house night after night. For our part in the show, we've selected old and new tunes in the folk tradition. Here's one that our Michelle Lewis brought to us just for this production. "Tom Sawyer" runs through Saturday night at Marshall's Joan C. Edwards Playhouse. The house opens at 7 each evening, and the Flood plays until the 7:30 curtain. Come out and see the show!

The Flood Hits the Boards!

We have another first for The Flood. The band has been asked to perform as part of a Marshall University theater production. Next week, Wednesday through Saturday nights at 7, we'll be doing the pre-show for a delightful production of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." The director has asked us to put together a selection of traditional and contemporary tunes that fix this classic Mark Twain story. At last night's rehearsal, we brushed off this beautiful Jean Ritchie composition to add to the mix. Remember, "Tom Sawyer" runs Oct. 8 through 11 at Marshall's Joan C. Edwards Playhouse. Come on out for a great show!