Digital Jam Session
Frequently, The Flood gives away a free tune that can be heard online without special software or magic decoder ring. Listening is easy: just scroll this page, and click the gold arrow key
before any song description to hear it right now.
Recorded at the weekly Wednesday night rehearsals, the tracks are far from "studio quality." On the contrary, they are in the finest warts-and-all tradition of "field recordings," so they have what one listener called a decided "back porch sound."
That means that in addition to the occasional flubs and miscues in the performances (the guys meticulously craft and insert these misfires only for your amusement, you understand), you often hear in the background people chatting, laughing, whispering, rolling dice, shuffling cards, performing the Heimlich Maneuver… Because of the nature of the beast, there are times, of course, when we wish the microphone had been positioned differently or the guys had given a little more thought to a bit of harmony, etc., but despite such glitches, the tunes do capture the joy of jams and we hope you like being part of it.
(Incidentally, each free tune is also turned into the Flood's weekly podcast, Jam Logs, so if you a pod person and would rather have the week's new song delivered directly to you, just subscribe to the podcast. For all the details on that, click here.)
NOTE! If you're using a computer that doesn't support Flash (such as an iPad or an iPhone,) you might not see the gold arrow key
Getting a Handle on our Water Music. We’re dredging up all our good water songs — and a band called The Flood oughta have a bunch of ‘em, right? — for a show we’re doing Friday night in Point Pleasant, WV, at a fundraiser for the good folks at one of our favorite places, the Point Pleasant River Museum. If you’re in the area, come on out for a great dinner at 6:30, then stay for our show at 7:30. The event will be at the First Church of God Ministry Center, 2401 Jefferson Avenue in beautiful Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
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------ Someone's Always Leaving Here....
For some of us, this time of year is a little bittersweet. For instance, Pamela and Charlie spend a lot of time at Marshall University nowadays, so they get to know many bright young adults throughout their college careers. And then each spring, the Bowens watch their young friends graduate and head out into the world to start the next chapter of their lives. For the West Virginia natives among them, that diploma often comes with a challenge and a choice. Do I leave for higher mountains and wider skies, or do I stay in the green hills and the dark valleys that nurtured me? Here’s a tune from Michelle at last night’s rehearsal, a lovely Colleen Anderson composition -- "West Virginia Chose Me" -- that comes with a catch in its throat.
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Being a House Band. One of the many things we love about being the house band each month at the new Route 60 Saturday Night musical variety shows is that the gig invites us to think in new ways about the songs we choose for the evening.
To put it plainly, we don’t want anything we play as the house band to compete with or to distract from the material being performed that that month’s guest artists. For instance, if a scheduled guest is planning to play jazzy pieces, we want to come back some something different, maybe some simple folk songs. On the other hand, if the guest star is offering a set of sweet ballads, we might follow him or her with a couple of raucous jug band tunes. At last weekend’s show, the challenge for The Flood was to make a smooth transition between the two guest star sets, from the wonderful, full-throated blues stylings of the up and coming Emily Kinner to the down-home country sounds of the legendary Rob McNurlin. Our choice? Well, as Joe Dobbs used to tell us, when in doubt, check in with Benny Goodman. So, here — in a track from the show — is the song we played, Billy Hill’s composition, “The Glory of Love,” introduced by Benny Goodman’s orchestra in 1936.---
Educatin'. We’re all eager for this weekend as we settle in again as the house band for another great Route 60 Saturday Night show. This month’s guests are two wonderful singer-
songwriters — a newcomer to our stage, Emily Kinner, and a regular crowd favorite, Rob McNurlin. We’ll also have some thoughts from our resident storyteller, Dave Peyton, and Michelle Lewis will share the emcee mike with our guest co-host Paul Callicoat. Meanwhile, what is The Flood’s role in all this? Oh, it’s up to us to provide the educational content for the evening, like, well, this little history lecture we’re preparing. Join us this Saturday night, April 21. Admission is $5, and this month all proceeds go the help the good work at Branches Domestic Violence Shelter. The 90-minute show starts at 7 p.m. at Route 60 Music Co., 60 Peyton Street in Barboursville.
