Jam Logs, the Podcast of The 1937 Flood

Roger Samples Sings "Chemo Blues"

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:46:35 PST

A band that's been around for 40 years has a lot of graduates. And the undisputed valedictorian of the class of Floodsters Emeritus is Rog Samples. Roger is one of the four founders of The Flood, and his vocals and beautiful guitar work, along with the great songs he writes, were central the band's sound for its first 10 years or more, before Rog and his family moved from West Virginia to the green pastures of Mount Sterling, Ky. We still get together as often as we can, and Rog and his brothers, Mack and Ted, are treasured friends. Now, for the past year, our brother Roger has been making a remarkable, inspiring stand against cancer, and with his typical wit and artistry, he decided there had to be a song in there somewhere too. And so, out of the fight of a lifetime comes his original tune, "Chemo Blues."

I'll Fly Away

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:05:29 PST

Wednesday night means The Flood's regular practice session, but it's become so much more than that. The jam session has evolved into a weekly reunion of old friends and new friends, folks we see often, others we see only occasionally. Last night a recently departed friend was much on Michelle Walker's mind when she suggested this great old gospel number. In the playing of it, it quickly grew into a celebration of all the friends who had come together on that particular rainy winter night.

The Flood Celebrates the 75th Anniversary of Its Namesake

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:44:19 PST

Seventy-five years ago this week, most of the streets of downtown Huntington -- and many other cities along the Ohio River -- were under water, devastated by the great 1937 flood. So, if you're a band named about that natural disaster and you have a jam session on its poignant anniversary, what do you play? Why, one of the fine flood songs of Bob Dylan, of course. Take it away, boys.

It was a Night for Newcomers!

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:07:36 PST

It was a night for newcomers at the Family Flood's jam session last night. At the recommendation of Joe Dobbs, bluesman Chris Sutton and his buddy Mike Lyzenga dropped in to share a few tunes. And from Princeton, W.Va., singer/songwriter Albert Perrone came his friend and jam session regular Doug Imbrogno. Finally, in the spirit of all things new, The Flood introduced its new band mate. Bassist/guitarist/singer Randy Hamilton of Willow Wood, Ohio, has become our newest member. Randy's been sitting in with us since late last summer, and we figured it was high time we made an honest Floodster out of him. You'll hear him on both of these tracks from last night's do. First up is Chris with a bluesy original called "Elevator." Then come Doug and Albert with a wild and woolly rendition of that 1940s standard, "Enjoy Yourself." Doug calls our jam sessions the region's only weekly Irish caili. Well, thank to you guys, we certainly DID enjoy yourselves!

Come to Our Party This Friday Night, Dec. 30!

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:15:41 PST

If you're in the Huntington area, we sure hope you'll drop by to party with us at 7 o'clock this Friday night, Dec. 30, at the Ballroom of the Renaissance Center at 900 8th Street. We'll be playing tunes from "Wade in the Water," our first new CD in nearly eight years. The whole band will be on stage and the new CD will be available for purchase. Oh, and if you can't attend our New Year's Eve Eve do, remember you can also buy the CD online. Go to our web site -- 1937flood.com -- and click on the banner at the top. And to get you in the mood, here's another sample track from the new disc -- fiddlin' Joe Dobbs and "Whisky Before Breakfast" -- bad idea, but a great tune.

Come to Our Party This Friday Night, Dec. 30!

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:09:30 PST

Pretty Polly

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:59:57 PST

There must be a million versions of the song "Pretty Polly." You can trace it all the way back to the British Isles and ballads like "The Gosport Tragedy" and "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter." We've always played a little fast and loose with the traditional Appalachian melody and lyrics, particularly late at night, as with last night's version when it was the final tune of the jam session.

Dan Cowan Sings "Rock Salt & Nails"

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:00:28 PST

Our weekly jam sessions are often blessed with extraordinary instrumentalists -- guitarists, fiddlers, banjo pickers and more -- but occasionally we're also joined by an excellent song stylist. Such a singer is Dan Cowan, who hails from the little town of Pinch, W.Va., in Kanawha County. Dan's work schedule doesn't allow him to drop by very often, but when he does it's always a special moment. In this track, it's late in the evening. Doug Chaffin brings out his fiddle and he and Dan duet on a great old Utah Phillips standard.

House of the Rising Sun ... uh ... Waltz

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:50:13 PST

The jam session seldom starts with the same tune week after week, but often ends with one. After several hours of music, after the voices are spent and fingers are sore, someone's calling for the old folk music chestnut, "The House of the Rising Sun" usually signals that the collective is finished for another week. But that doesn't mean the assembly will play the song the same way each time. Sometimes it's fast and furious, other times it's slow and bluesy. Sometimes it's a serious ballad, other times, naw, just for laughs. Last night? Well, it wasn't a first -- but it has been a while since we've done it in waltz time…

Thanksgiving Jam 2011

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:25:40 PST

For many around here, Thanksgiving isn't so much about travel. Instead, we're the home that people come back to for the holiday. Last night, on the eve of Thanksgiving 2011, we had our dear friend Jacob Scarr home from college in Colorado. And New Yorker Matt Parker was in the town visiting his grandparents. Well, we had to get these two young guitarists trading licks on an old blues, the way they have at Thanksgiving jam sessions in previous years. Oh, and if you listen closely toward the end of the track, that's jam session newcomer Sonny Sumner with a tasteful little ride on his electric. Yes, it was a guitaroarious evening.

Michelle Walker Lights Up the Room

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:04:40 PST

Bassist Randy Hamilton nailed it last night. As he was packing up at the end of the evening, he said, "Boy, there sure is a lot of energy in the room when the chick singer's here. She just radiates it!" So true. Our Michelle Walker can't make it to the jam session every week, but when she does, the room lights up. Here's her last number of the evening, and it's just as powerful as her first two hours earlier.

Mark Keen's First Flooding

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:05:40 PST

Pittsburgh harmonica sensation Mark Keen actually grew up in our town. In fact, he and one of our jam session regulars, guitarist Randy Brown, went all through school together here back in the '70s. Well, Mark was back home in Huntington this week. Last night Randy brought him to his first Flood jam session, and, good golly, we had a ball. Mark limbered up his harps as soon as he hit door and we didn't stop for more than two hours. Now, we understand Mark doesn't get home very often but we hoping that from now when he does, he puts The Flood on his "to-do" list!

Down By the Sally Gardens

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 06:41:56 PDT

Not long ago, Joe Dobbs added a fifth string to one of his fiddles which gives him a lovely new lower register to play with. Sometimes it's like having another instrument in the band, a cross between a violin and viola. Late in the evening at a recent jam session, Joe demonstrated how this innovation can give a whole new voice to tune like "Down by the Sally Garden," which The Flood's been playing since its first CD more than 10 years ago. Oh, and by the way, that's our buddy Jim Rumbaugh playing that beautiful harmonica solo.

The Cincinnati Rag

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 06:45:48 PDT

Sometimes one tune sets the mood for the whole evening. At a recent jam session, I said to Joe Dobbs, "How about a fiddle tune?"Out came "Cincinnati Rag," a great old Byrd Moore - Clarence Green piece from 1930 that we haven't really done much with in years. Well, it got everybody grinning. And if you listen closely -- that Randy Brown in the middle of things, taking a break on a borrowed guitar. It was just that kind of night.

Tom Norman Finally Finds The Flood

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 06:50:30 PDT

Tom Norman has been playing in rock 'n' roll bands around here for decades, occasionally dipping into rockabilly. Back in the '90s, he was on Joe Dobbs's old "Music from the Mountains" radio show on West Virginia Public Radio show. Well, Tom finally made it to a Flood jam session and before the evening was out, we had him singing an original.

Rob McNurlin Sings "Blind Willie McTell"

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 06:19:44 PDT

Many of us think we know a lot of Bob Dylan tunes. And then we think again of our good friend Rob McNurlin, who REALLY knows a lot of Bob Dylan tunes. One night last summer when Rob was home from Nashville and sitting in with us, our old buddy Zoe Brewer was in the room and she said, "Hey, Rob, do that Willie McTell song!" Rob thought for a moment and then out came this beautiful, little-known song that Dylan wrote in the early 1980s and didn't release until almost a decade later. It was the hit of the evening.

A Two-Harmonica Wednesday

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 05:51:49 PDT

The jam session's always better when there's a harmonica in the room. Twice the fun when there's two of them! Last night The Flood's regular harmonicat, Sam St. Clair, was joined by Flood buddy Jim Rumbaugh, happily a frequent visitor to our Wednesday nights. Here we turned Sam and Jim loose on a version of a blues standard that we learned from vinyl: a 1961 Folkways recording by the late giant Eric Von Schmidt.

Don't Get Around Much Any More

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:20:53 PDT

It's always a sweeter evening when The Chick Singer's on hand. We'd not seen our Michelle Walker for a month or more. She's been busy with personal, non-musical business. But last night she rolled into town and cranked Wednesday night up a couple of notches. You know, there are tunes we never play except when Michelle is in the room, like this great old Duke Ellington number.

Ready for the Times to Get Better

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 06:02:52 PDT

Our old buddy Paul Martin doesn't join us on our Wednesday night jam sessions nearly often enough, but when he does, he makes memories. Recently Paul came with his mandolin and sat in for the entire evening, producing smiles all around the room. Here he and his old bandmate Randy Hamilton team up on the 1978 tune, "Ready for the Times to Get Better." The song was originally recorded by country crooner Crystal Gayle, but it's perhaps better known in the folkie world for the Doc Watson version of a few years back.

Sittin' on Top of the World

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 06:05:55 PDT

Pamela, The Flood's manager, occasionally reminds us that the weekly jam session is social as well as musical, a gathering of friends, regular listeners as well as players. We thought of that again as we listened to this track, which seems to capture the feeling of this particular evening. The end of a long, hot summer. Folks coming in happy … happy to be out of the heat, happy to see old friends again, happy to settle into this old Mississippi Sheiks tune that's as comfortable as a soft hat and cool breeze…

What's in The Soup This Week?

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:55:27 PDT

What we love about the Wednesday night jam sessions is that each one's different, depending on who's in the mix. It's like a good soup made from whatever ingredients just happen to be in the kitchen at the time. Some Wednesdays are all about blues, others are country or folk. Last night was a swinging evening, with the main ingredients being Doug Chaffin on bass, Joe Dobbs on fiddle, Jim Rumbaugh on harmonica, Randy Brown on guitar, and the rest of us just reaching out and holding on for the ride…

Randy Brown and Joe Dobbs Jam Like the Old Days

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:40:20 PDT

Randy Brown is a jazz guitar player who regularly sits in with us and just classes up the joint! And whenever he starts playing great handfuls of what our Doug Chaffin calls "those Louisville chords," it's fun to watch the jaws drop around the room. Randy has known Joe Dobbs almost as long as The Flood has, with shared musical memories reaching back to the late 1970s. Last night, we got the two of them jamming on a few fiddle-and-guitar duets. These days, the Wednesday night jam sessions have become all the richer now that Randy has become a regular.

Mike Smith Comes Home to the Family Flood

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 07:15:51 PDT

We've not seen our great friend, Mike Smith, for months and months. In fact, since our last get-together, Mike went back home to England to visit with family and friends for three weeks or so. But now he's back in The States and last night he came back to his Flood family. Mike's quite a musician. In addition to playing a lyrical fiddle, he also stops us in our tracks with his a cappella ballads. Here he takes along on Christy Moore's wonderful song, "A Stitch in Time." Oh, and stay tuned when the singing's done, because the lyrics inspire Doug Chaffin to tell us a story.

She's The Ohio

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 06:18:45 PDT

A few weeks ago, our dear friend Phyllis Dale came by for a long-overdue visit with The Flood. And on the podcast the next day, we featured a couple of Phyllis's good-time tunes, the kind of numbers with which she used to rock The Delta Queen steamboat, where she was an on-board entertainer for 10 years. But there's another side to Phyllis Dale too -- the ballad singer and songwriter. Here's another track from that evening. This time Phyllis does her wonderful composition, "She's the Ohio." And listen closely -- that's our friend Wendell Dobbs sitting in on flute for the solos.

Payday

charlesbowen@bowenbooks.com (The 1937 Flood) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 03:33:11 PDT

The Flood has been doing "Payday," that great old Mississippi John Hurt song, for years now. In fact, it's featured on the first CD we recorded a decade ago this summer. But it is still a favorite at the weekly jam session, where the tune takes on a different personality, depending on who's sitting in that night. On this version, we were especially energized because the great guitarist Jesse Smith was on hand, and his stellar finger-pickin' solos took "Payday" to a whole 'nother level!