Jam Logs, the Podcast of The 1937 Flood

 Danny Cox learned his version of the song from a recording by his hero Chet Atkins on his 1965 More of That Guitar Country album. This is a Flood track recorded at a recent gig at Sal’s Speakeasy in Ashland, Ky. Here you’ll hear Dan and harmonicat Sam St. Clair trading choruses on the tune as we call folks back to the bandstand to begin our second set

 Pamela Bowen has been our band manager for more than 20 years now, and she is a major influence on all things Flood, from the venues we visit to the tunes we play when we get there. So recently when Pamela suggested we augment the roots music portion of our repertoire with some classic old-time rock, we started casting our thoughts back to the tunes that rocked our youth, like this from 1956.  

 If you hang out with The Flood much, it seems like everything we do is carefully planned …. right…. but actually, accident and happenstance are a couple of our good friends. For instance, earlier this week we got together to plan for our show tonight at Sal’s Speakeasy. Now, as you’ll hear in this track, between songs Charlie starts singing a bit of this old 1920s hokum song. Immediately, Randy jumps in with some cool harmony. Then Sam brightens it up with his harmonica and Danny puts a bow on the whole thing with a cookie’ guitar part and just like that the tune has inserted itself into the set list.

 Before we played this song at a recent rehearsal, we had a bit of conversation about all the more raucous renditions of “Corrina, Corrina” of our youth (and mom and dad’s youth…. of grandma’s youth…) But then when we kicked off the song, we all just naturally dropped into that bluesy, moody groove that Bob Dylan established for it 60 years ago. This is our first take on the tune, but it feels like it’s campaigning to be a regular in our repertoire.

 The Flood started doing this song about 1979, right after Roger Samples and Charlie Bowen learned it from a beloved album, Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy, released in 1976.Rog always said he thought the melody was buried in the very genes of Irish people, adding, “Every time we do that song, I feel like the ghosts of my ancestors come into the room!” "Salley Gardens"has been in The Flood’s repertoire ever since, even tucked away among the tunes the band recorded on its first album two decades ago.  This current version — with solos by Dan Cox and Sam St. Clair — was recorded in a recent jam session just to be our gift today. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

 When the brilliant Dan Cox joined The Flood Fold last year, one of the first tunes he and his buddy, veteran Floodster Randy Hamilton, brought to the mix was “Windy and Warm.” While most of this take is all about Danny’s pitch-perfect picking, it also features Randy and Dan vocalizing at one point, a moment that you can hear being happily applauded by Charlie.

 The Flood has been doing versions of this great old song from its earliest days nearly a half century ago. Literally. It was the first song that the late Dave Peyton and Charlie Bowen tried at a New Year’s Eve party in 1973 where the band was born. The tune has come back in every iteration of The Flood and it has never sounded better than this latest version, with Danny Cox and Sam St. Clair double-dipping on the solos and Randy Hamilton singing all that rock-solid harmony. Here’s “Solid Gone.”

 We're excited to be coming back to Sal's Speakeasy in Ashland this Friday night, and, best of all, The Chick Singer is back! Yes, Floodster Emerita Michelle Hoge (whom the late Joe Dobbs christened "da chick singer" years ago) will be coming in from Cincinnati with her husband Rich just to sit in with her old band mates for the evening. It's going to be epic! We'll be playing from 6 to 9 p.m.  Here's one of the tunes we have for the set list.

 It all began when Charlie took his first stumbling steps — slipping and a-sliding, as it were — in learning some bottleneck technique on his new resonator guitar. Right away, it reminded him of a gospel tune from his youth, but he just couldn’t seem to get it down. Then Danny came along, took one listen and started just naturally channeling an old Doc Watson cum Chet Atkins vibe, laying down an absolutely rock solid foundation. Sam grabbed his “E” harp and found his groove, Randy jumped in with some beautiful harmony for the choruses, and suddenly “I Am a Pilgrim” landed righteously in the repertoire.

The Flood’s take on this century-old happy, naughty good-time tune of the Roarin’ Twenties owes much to the song’s re-arousal by the string bands of the 1960s. Our version borrows the great Jim Kweskin jug band’s idea of blending the tunes with the Louis Armstrong standard of the same era, “Heebie Jeebies.” And in this track, while everybody brings great solos, we all agree that it’s Danny — our newest Floodster — who, as Sam says, “becomes one with Sister Kate.”