The 1937 Flood, West Virginia's Most Eclectic String Band

diary

Like an audio diary, more than 400 episodes of The Flood's weekly podcast, called "Jam Logs," have been shared online since the first installment in December 2008.

Here is a browseable archives of all the episodes to date, enabling you to listen to our goldie-oldies...

Amounting to more than 30 hours of music, it's all free! Well, free-ish. You do have to pay a little ear tax with your patience, since your listening requires you endure Charlie starting ... Every .... Single ... Episode ... With .... THE SAME DAMN WORDS: "Hey there! It's Charlie Bowen with The 1937 Flood....!" Bless his heart. Sooner or later, though, if you listen to enough of them, you'll figure out how to fiddle with the slider and slip right past his opener.

In addition to all that audio, the following pages also include dozens of Video Extras, that is, videos shot at about the same time as the associated podcasts, either "at home" with the Flood or at a contemporary performance.

Here's an overview of the yearly of this diary:

2008: The idea for the weekly podcasts began with Sam St. Clair. Early in the year, Sam noted that the price of good digital recorders had come down dramatically, and he thought we should buy one and have it running during the weekly rehearsals, just … you know … in case somebody might commit some art.

2009: The big development of year was that Jacob Scarr, our younest Floodster ever, officially joined the band in March 2009. Jacob had been sitting in with us for a year a more. He was already good enough to be a Floodster then, but we weren't sure that, at 14, he was retain his interest. When he turned 16 and was still showing up each each week, we enthusiastically asked him to make it official. He should stay with the band until he left for college in the summer of 2011.

2010 saw the weekly gatherings at the Bowens' house evolve from simple rehearsals into weekly jam sessions encompassing more and more visitors, some playing, some just on hand to listen. In fact, the pre-Thanksgiving session found 27 people(!) in the room, from as far away as New York and Washington and as near as around the block. Spice the evening with the baggie of kazoos -- the happy instrument Flood kazoo guru Dave Peyton calls "the West Virginia saxophone" -- and you have one of the jolliest podcasts of the year.

2011: For much of the year, The Flood was focused on the band's old comrade and co-founder Roger Samples and on the start of what would be Rog's five-year battle with cancer. At the end of the previous year, doctors in Lexinton, Ky., found a cancer in his trachea; the situation was grave -- the cancer was aggressive -- but the doctors were preparing him and the family for a fight, with chemo therapy to start in late January. As soon as the word spread, Roger's friends and family started gathering give what support they could.

2012: The best news of the year was the first news of the year: that Randy Hamilton joined the band. His beautiful accoustic/electric bass now became the solid, reliable heartbeat of The Flood, and his wonderful voice started bringing new vocal power to our harmonies and leads.

2013 was a year of losses. Nancy McClellan -- who with her husband Harvey, had been so central to the band since its beginning -- died in October. George Walker, who produced The Flood's second and third CDs, died in May.

2014 saw The Flood check off another item of its bucket list: Taking part in a a full-fledged stage production. Marshall University director Nicole Perrone made it all possible when she invited The Flood to perform nightly for a week as the warmup band for a Marshall production of "The Adventiures of Tom Sawyer."

2015: Endings and beginnings. Joe Dobbs, one of the founding members of The Flood, passed away after 40 years with the band. One of his last recommendation is that we tease the great Paul Martin to join us. He was pleased that we were successful in that effort.

2016: Another item on our bucket list -- the recording of a "live, in concert" album -- was finally achieved in 2016. Joe Dobbs would have loved it! It was one of our late fiddlin' friend's favorite comment that the band he co-founded 40+ years ago always sounded better at parties and concerts than it did in rehearsals and in studios. “It helps that everybody’s a ham,” Joe would say with a smile. Well, that and the kazoos...

2017: The Next Big Thing for The Flood came in 2017 when we became the house band for a new monthly music variety show called Route 60 Saturday Night.

2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018

GUEST APPEARANCES

Rarities & Highlights

-- The first episodes (12/08)
-- Georgie Buck (3/19/09)
-- Jacob Joins Up (4/16/09)
-- Billy in the Low Ground (4/23/09)
-- Statesboro Blues (5/13/10)
-- Ditty Wah Ditty (9/9/10)
-- Kazoo Orchestra! (11/25/10)
-- Floodiz Navidad (12/23/10)
-- Pre-Flood Paul & Randy (9/22/11)
-- The 5-String Fiddle (11/3/11)
-- Randy Joins Up (1/19/12)
-- The Flood's 75th (1/26/12)
-- I'll Fly Away (2/2/12)
-- For the Ladies (2/16/12)
-- Dennis Dobbs Comes Calling (3/15/12)
-- Ambushing Dave (2/12/12)
-- Coon Sanders Live (5/17/12)
-- West Virginia Friend (6/21/12)
-- Joe Dobbs Book Tour (6/28/12)
-- June Apple ... Then & Now (7/19/12)
-- Flood's "Happy Birthday" (8/16/12)
-- The Coffee Rush (9/20/12)
-- 4th Street Mess-Around (10/12/12)
-- South Wind (11/14/12)
-- West Fork Girls (11/22/12)
-- Remember George Walker (5/9/13)
-- The Fairmont Freeze (5/30/13)
-- White Rose Waltz (6/20/13)
-- Remember Nancy (1/23/14)
-- Willow Garden (5/28/14)
-- Tom Sawyer Memories (10/23/14)
-- Three from Woodlands (10/30/14)
-- National Kazoo Day! (1/29/15)
-- House of the Rising Sun (2/26/15)
-- Paul Joins Up (4/1/15)
-- The Titanic Fare Thee Well (4/8/15)
-- Joe's Last Session (4/29/15)
-- Live at the V Club (6/3/15)
-- Needed Time (7/15/15)
-- Live from Trinity (8/5/15)
-- Chicken Out the Window (8/19/15)
-- Georgia on My Mind (9/9/15)
-- Goodbye, Joe (9/23/15)
-- Pamela Tells a Joke (10/21/15)
-- Good As I Been to You (11/25/15)
-- St. James Infirmary (12/9/15)
-- One Too Many Mornings (12/22/15)
-- May the Force Be With You (12/30/15)
-- Peaceful, Easy Feeling ( 1/20/16)
-- Doug's New Guitar (1/27/16)
-- Crazy (2/3/16)
-- Misty (2/10/16)
-- Goodbye, Roger (2/17/16)
-- Life-Saving Ukulele (3/2/16)
-- Coal Tattoo (3/9/16)
-- Roxanna Waltz (3/30/16)
-- Un Canadien Errant (4/20/16)
-- Last Thing on My Mind (6/1/16)
-- You're No Good (7/20/16)
-- These Days (8/17/16)
-- Honeysuckle Rose (9/28/16)
-- Can't Help But Wonder (10/26/16)
-- Outlaw Blues (11/16/16)
-- Angel of the Night (1/4/17)
-- Before the Next Teardrop Falls (1/25/17)
-- Reflections of My Life (2/8/17)
-- Dink's Songs (3/15/17)
-- Louise (3/22/17)
-- Hey, Baby (3/29/17)
-- Sentimental Journey (4/5/17)
-- Fiddlin' Doug Chaffin (4/19/17)
-- I Almost Lost My Mind (4/26/17)
-- Darlin' Companion (6/14/17)
-- Can You Run (6/28/17)
-- That Chicken Song (7/12 /17)
-- Live from Taylor Books (8/16/17)
-- Route 60 Saturday Night (9/13/17)
-- One Red Rose (9/20/17)
-- Live from Rt. 60 Saturday Nite (10/25/17)
-- The Christmas Song (12/6/17)
-- Liverpool Love Letter (12/20/17)
-- A Taste of Honey (2/13/18)
-- Ookpik (2/20/18)
-- Careless Love (3/27/18)
-- Live Again from Route 60 (4/25/18)
-- West Virginia Chose Me (5/1/18)

Guest Artists

CATHY BARTON & DAVE PARA
   -- (8/19/10)
   -- (10/28/10)

NERF BROWN
   -- (4/14/11)

RANDY BROWN
   -- (3/11/10)
   -- (3/18/10)
   -- (4/29/10)
   -- (8/26/10)
   -- (2/10/11)
   -- (4/7/11)
   -- (9/1/11)
   -- (9/8/11)
   -- (10/27/11)
   -- (1/8/15)

KATHY CASTNER
   -- (5/16/13)
   -- (12/14/16)

KAREN COMBS
   -- (12/24/14)
   -- (1/8/15)

PHYLLIS DALE
   -- (8/4/11)
   -- (8/18/11)

WENDELLL DOBBS
  -- (1/16/09)
   -- (7/28/11)
  -- (8/18/11)

RON ELDRIDGE
   -- (10/7/10)

BUDDY GRIFFIN
   -- (3/25/11)
   -- (1/13/13)

SHERRI HAMILTON
   -- (7/31/14)
  -- (10/30/14)

DOUG IMBROGNO
   -- (1/28/10)
   -- (1/19/12)

DALE JONES
   -- (11/19/09)
   -- (4/29/10)

ROD & JUDY JONES
   -- (7/29/10)
   -- (8/12/10)
   -- (9/2/10)
   -- (7/14/11)

MARK KEEN
-- (11/10/11)

MIKE LYZENGA
-- (1/19/12)

ROB McNURLIN
   -- (6/16/11)
   -- (10/13/11)
   -- (10/18/17)
   -- (11/8/17)

TOM NORMAN
   -- (10/20/11)

MATT PARKER
   -- (11/26/09)
   -- (11/24/11)

ALBERT PERRONE
   -- (1/19/12)

JIM RUMBAUGH
   -- (6/17/10)
   -- (8/26/10)
   -- (4/7/11)
   -- (4/28/11)
   -- (9/8/11)
   -- (10/6/11)
   -- (7/31/14)
   -- (12/24/14)
   -- (1/8/15)
   -- (2/6/18)

JESSE SMITH
   -- (3/3/11)
   -- (7/21/11)
   -- (8/10/11)
   -- (7/21/11)

JOHN SMITH
   -- (6/2/11)

MIKE SMITH
   -- (4/2/09)
   -- (5/21/09)
   -- (7/16/09)
   -- (12/24/09)
   -- (1/21/10)
   -- (4/7/10)
   -- (7/15/10)
   -- (8/25/11)

SUSAN STATON
-- (4/7/11)

PAULA STEWART
-- (6/2/11)

SALLIE SUBLETTE
-- (2/23/12)
-- (10/12/16)

CHRIS SUTTON
   -- (1/19/12)

DANIEL TROUT
   -- (7/9/09)
   -- (6/2/11)

Floodster Emeriti

DENNIS DOBBS
-- (3/15/12)

BILL HOKE
   -- (10/29/09)

CHUCK ROMINE
   -- (9/3/09)
   -- (9/10/09)
   -- (4/29/10)
   -- (9/9/10)
   -- (4/7/11)
   -- (7/19/12)
   -- (1/16/14)
   -- (3/20/14)
   -- (4/24/14)
   -- (5/16/14)
   -- (7/31/14)
   -- (9/25/14)
   -- (2/12/15)
   -- (3/12/15)
   -- (3/2/16)
   -- (7/6/16)
   -- (9/7/16)

ROGER SAMPLES
   -- (1/27/11)
   -- (3/25/11)
   -- (6/30/11)
   -- (2/9/12)

JACOB SCARR
   -- (6/28/12)
   -- (1/3/13)
   -- (12/24/14)
   -- (1/8/15)
   -- (12/2/15)
   -- (12/22/15)
   -- (6/29/16)
   -- (7/6/16)
   -- (12/28/16)
   -- (1/4/17)
   -- (1/3/18)

STEW SCHNEIDER
-- (7/1/10)