Stray Dogs and Alley Cats

 A few weeks before COVID came along and started slapping us all around, Paul Martin looked up at one of The Flood’s weekly rehearsals and said, “Hey, fellows, have we ever thought about doing this song?” And then he sang a verse or two of a gorgeous old tune from Virginia’s Lonesome River Band. Well, shoot, we fell in love with it right then and there and wanted to start working on it, but of course, the Coronavirus had other ideas. With months of quarantine and cancellations, our masks and social distancing, the song got kind of lost in the shuffle for a while, until a few weeks ago when our newest bandmate, Vanessa Coffman, asked for it. And we’re so glad she did, because that put the tune back front and center. Now, as usual with Flood matters, the arrangement is still evolving — truth to tell, it probably always will be, knowing us — but here’s a kind of status report from last night’s rehearsal. That’s Paul Martin singing lead, with his fellow Paul, Paul Callicoat, providing all that cool harmony on the chorus. Doug Chaffin’s Paul Reed Smith guitar is finding just right feeling for the fills and mid-song, Veezy Coffman steps up with a spot-on sax solo. Here’s the tune Paul had on his mind all those months ago.