Blue Moon Surprise

Some things happen only once in a blue moon, but a great thing about music is that you can have a blue moon whenever you want one. And some — like this one — come with a surprise ending. This particular surprise is the best kind because it was a surprise to us as well. Enjoy!

Down By the River Side

We’re so happy to be invited back to play again at Huntington’s newest music festival, the Jewel City Jamboree, down at Harris Riverfront Park. We’re set to play Saturday night at 6, but come early! Our friends Wiley Dew play at 4 and then good buddy Rob McNurlin and his Beatnik Cowboys are on stage at 5. It’s going to be a great weekend of music down by the river side! Here’s a tune The Flood will be including in our 60-minute set.

We're at Bahnhof next Tuesday night, May 23!

We want to tell you about a special gig we have next week. We’re thrilled to be invited to play at Bahnhof, Huntington's hottest new restaurant at 745 7th Avenue. If you've been planning to check out the venue everyone's talking about -- or if you're ALREADY a Bahnhof fan -- come on out for this special Tuesday night, May 23, starting at 7:30 p.m. Weather permitting, we'll be pickin' on the patio! If the weather gods don’t cooperate, we’ll be inside. Either way, we’ll have a ball. And you will too if you join us. We might even have a special guest. Who? The hint is in this tune! Enjoy.

Thinking about the Civil War

The fascination with the American Civil War continues a century and half after Appomattox. We've got it too. About a year ago, Paul Martin brought us this tune -- "The Last Time (You'll See Jenny)" -- and we've been listening as the arrangement grows and evolves each week. Here's our latest take on the song as recorded at last night's weekly rehearsal. That's Paul singing the lead and everyone else helping out on the harmonies and the solos.

Quorum

Well, we just barely had a quorum for last night's rehearsal. Suddenly, sicknesses of assorted stripe have struck us, but as we say around here, wherever two or more gather in its name, it is The Flood, and last night we had two plus two, which is just enough for some pre-summertime fun.

I Almost Lost My Mind

Arrangements while you wait! One of the things I love about rehearsing each week is that, for better or worse, we all begin to think alike … and, hey, mostly that's for the better! Now, all day long yesterday, I had a great old Ivory Joe Hunter tune stuck in my head, his 1950 hit song called "I Almost Lost My Mind." I started playing it last night at the practice session and, within minutes, an arrangement started coming to together. Michelle and Randy began finding great harmony vocals, Sam fell into a just natural harmonica groove, while for Doug… well, it brought back fond memories for Doug, of when he did that song with the bands he played with as a teenager when the song was new and the hottest tune on the radio.

Fiddlin' Doug Chaffin

Doug Chaffin has worn so many different hats in this band. When he joined up nearly 20 years ago, he played that driving upright bass behind the big guns of Joe Dobbs and Chuck Romine, Dave Peyton and Sam St. Clair. Later, when Dave Ball and then Randy Hamilton stepped in on bass, Doug moved to mandolin, trading licks with our young guitar wiz Jacob Scarr. After Jacob had to leave us to go to college, Doug added sweet guitar solos to his regular contributions. Lately, with the sad loss of our long-time bandmate Joe Dobbs, Doug's been dusting off his fiddle so well. Let's hear a few fiddle tunes from recent weeks.