Jam Logs, the Podcast of The 1937 Flood

Charlie's cousin, Kathy Castner, brings the holiday spirit with her on her annual Christmas visit to the Bowen household, and, if we're lucky, the visit coincide with a Flood gathering, as it this week. Now, Kathy sings in public only a couple of times a year -- usually only during these Huntington visits -- but, wow, listening to her beautiful voice, you'd think she was singing every evening. Here she's shares her rendition of "The Rose," with wonderful solos by Paul Martin and Doug Chaffin.

When we introduced the new "Live, In Concert" album earlier this month, several Flood fans asked if it was still possible to get the band's earlier CDs as well. And the more they talked, the more we realized that, heck, maybe we ought to box 'em up for the holidays. So, we've rolled out The Flood Six Pack! Right now you can get all SIX of The 1937 Flood's commercially recorded CDs (from 2001 to the present) in one package for $59.95. That's more than a third off the regular retail price. Let's see... it's 15 years worth of music, so that's $4 a year…. or, whoa! a penny a day. Hey, it's math -- we can do this all day long… It's also nearly eight hours worth of tunes, so if you want to celebrate Take Your Floodster to Work Day, man, this is all you need! Come to our website, 1937flood.com, to read all about it. Meanwhile, here's a snippet from each of the half dozen albums in the collection. Enjoy.

We love having a large band, but one of the downsides is that we can't always get all seven of us together in the same room at the same time, especially during the busy holiday season. So The Flood has always had a tradition of smaller breakout combos. For instance, whenever we can assemble only four of us, we call it "Flood Plain." Any combination smaller than that is "Flood Lite." Last night was a Flood Lite night!

The new CD is out, and we are so excited about it. It's our sixth CD in 15 years and our first live in concert album (cleverly called "Live, In Concert"). Recorded at a show in Huntington last January, the new disc is out just in time for Christmas, and you can order it right here online. Visit our website -- 1937flood.com  -- it has all you need to know. Here's a sample from the new album. We join in progress as Doug Chaffin and Paul Martin celebrate an exquisite Jay Ungar-Molly Mason composition, "Lovers' Waltz."

Sometimes the most memorable moment of an evening happens when you are waiting for something else to happen. Last night, as we were waiting for the Chick Singer to arrive, Doug, Paul, Randy and Charlie started noodling around with a nice, slow version of Bob Dylan's old album-filler "Outlaw Blues" and we ended up passing a lot of smiles around. Right in the middle of the tune, Michelle and her mama came in -- in the track, you can hear us saying howdy -- and Michelle jumped right in the mix. Sweet moment.

We love that Midnight Special. So did Carl Sandburg, who published two versions in his 1927 "American Songbag," but it was from Lead Belly's recordings a couple decades later that we learned the tune. There's always been a bit of controversy over what it means for that "ever-lovin' light" to shine on you. Some folks says it's about some kind of salvation. Others think it means that dang train's about run you over. Either way, as Bob Dylan once said in another context, "imagine it would be some kind of change."

The great Mississippi John Hurt died 50 years ago today. We grew up loving this blues master's syncopated fingerpicking style, and his music has always been part of The Flood's DNA. One of John's songs -- "Payday" -- was on The Flood's first CD 16 years ago and it remains in our repertoire. In fact, just last night, as you'll hear, "Payday" opened the weekly rehearsal.  

Last night, while making the coffee and waiting for the guys to come play, Charlie heard himself humming a song he hadn't thought of in at least 20 years. Back in the '90s, Dave, Joe and he would take a trip one night each spring to a little place near Beckley, WV, where they played an evening of music for visiting volunteers who had come for a week from Marquette University to help out with post-winter projects around the little town. The hostess for the party was a wonderful old folkie who each year always asked the guys to play the same tune, this grand old Tom Paxton composition. Before that, they probably hadn't played it for another 20 years. And yet it seems as fresh today as it did all those decades ago. Here's "I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound."

Sometimes a song comes back into our lives like an old friend. We had that moment last night with a classic Eddie Arnold number, a tune we hadn't played in more than a year. Listen to this, as Michelle re-introduces us to "You Don't Know Me" in the sweetest three minutes of the whole evening.

Musically speaking, Sallie Sublette is part of the family. Sallie met Joe Dobbs in 1976, just a year after the late fiddler came into our lives, and she and Joe had many memorable adventures together over the years. Sallie also had long and loving history with The Flood's mother superior and guiding spirit, the eternal Nancy McClellan. She was long time buddy of Rog Samples and his brothers Mack and Ted. The list of our connections is great indeed. So whenever Sallie comes back east from her home in Idaho, we look forward to at least one evening with her. Last night, when she and her sister Linda joined us, it was a time of laughs and tears, stories and, of course, songs. Here are two.