This Week's Freebie from The 1937 Flood

This week's freebie features a song that’s returned to the set list.

Hoagy Carmichael tunes have always been on The Flood playlist. We can’t remember when started doing “Up a Lazy River,” and nearly 20 years ago Joe Dobbs had us doing “Stardust” to record on what would become his favorite solo CD, “Fiddle and The Flood.”

Well, lately another Hoagy Carmichael composition, “Georgia on My Mind,” had been circling back into the Flood’s stream of consciousness. Here’s our take on the tune at the beginning of a rehearsal a few weeks ago. As the track begins, Randy, Paul, Doug and Charlie already already in their seats. Then mid-song, you can hear Sam arrive, find out the key — “We’re in C, Sam!” — and immediately take a solo. That’s our Sam.

By the way, about “Georgia, “ Hoagy Carmichael was already an established professional songwriter when he penned this melody in early 1930 and played at a party at which an old college friend, Stuart Gorrell from Indiana University, heard it. The story goes that Stuart and Hoagy stayed up all night working on the song, and Gorrell ended up writing the lyrics.

Incidentally, Stuart Gorrell later became a banker and never wrote another lyric in his life. Too bad!

Meanwhile, “Georgia on My Mind” was recorded 88 years ago this week by Hoagy and his orchestra with jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke on muted cornet. It was Bix’s last recording session. It’s part of the reason that “Georgia” just stays on our mind. Click to hear the tune.

This Week's Freebie from The 1937 Flood

This week's freebie features a song we’re working on for the rollout for the next season of Route 60 Saturday Night shows, starting later this weekend..

We’re excited about getting to help roll out the new season of “Route 60 Saturday Night” this weekend. Once again The Flood will be on stage each month as the show’s house band. To launch the third season, the show has two great singer songwriters, the legendary John Lilly and exciting newcomer Cat Cirner. The show is hosted by Randy Yohe and our own Michelle Lewis.

Here’s a tune from last night’s rehearsal that we’re working up for our portion of the evening. It’s a lovely John Prine composition called “One Red Rose.”

Remember, it Route 60 Saturday Night, THIS Saturday night, at Route 60 Music Co., 60 Peyton St. in Barboursville. The show starts at 7 p.m. Admission is $5 and all proceeds go to this month’s charity, the Cabell-Wayne Association of the Blind. Click to hear the tune.

This Week's Freebie from The 1937 Flood

This week's freebie features a song we’re working on for the rollout for the next season of Route 60 Saturday Night shows, starting later this month..

This has been a relentlessly hot, humid season here in the Ohio Valley, so summer is not something we’ve generally sung the praises of much this year. However, if music teaches you anything it’s that there’s always something to celebrate, even a long, hot summer.

Now, when we roll out the next edition of the “Route 60 Saturday Night” variety shows later this month, it will still be summer — and it probably will still be hot and humid — so we’re working up this tune for that Sept. 15 debut show.

Here’s a take on the tune from a rehearsal last week, with solos by Doug and Sam. It’s Michelle’s sultry version of Gershwin’s “Summertime.Click to hear the tune.
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This Week's Freebie from The 1937 Flood

This week's freebie features another tune that’s come drifting back to us.

Whenever a heat wave finally breaks with a massive rain storm, like that downpour flooded Huntington streets last week, you can usually find us Floodsters humming one of our innumerable water songs, like the one bobbed to the surface of our collective consciousness at last night’s rehearsal. Here’s our 2018 version of “Wade in the Water.”

 Click to hear the tune.

This Week's Freebie from The 1937 Flood

This week's freebie features another tune that’s come drifting back to us.

About two decades ago, the very first cut on our very first commercial CD was our take on a little Bob Gibson tune that we got from a fairly obscure LP in the 1970s.

Well, half the folks who played on that debut CD are not longer with us, and for many years, the song drifted out of our collective memory. Until this summer, when it came drifting back.

Lately, we’ve had fun introducing it to a new generation of Floodsters. Here’s the 2018 version of “Rockin’ Chair.” Click to hear the tune.

This Week's Freebie from The 1937 Flood

This week's freebie features a tune that has a special meaning for us.

We’ve started to think about the tunes we want on our next CD, and we’re asking the regulars who attend at our weekly rehearsals to help us choose. On everybody’s list — ours and those of our friends — is this song, which Randy and Paul brought to us last year.

Here’s our latest rendition, recorded at last night’s rehearsal. That’s Randy singing the lead with beautiful harmony by Paul and Michelle.

By the way, this song will always have a special meaning to us because the first time we performed it publicly was at Taylor Books in Charleston a year ago this week — Aug. 12, 2017 — the evening of the day we had spent watching the horrendous images of the neo-Nazi rioting in Charlottesville, Virginia. In that context, these poignant lyrics took on an even greater resonance.

Here’s the Chris Stapleton composition, “Can You Run?” Click to hear the tune.

This Week's Freebie from The 1937 Flood

This week's freebie features a little tune reunion.

Sometimes tunes get away from us for a while. Eight or nine years ago, we regularly played a funny little David Bromberg composition called, “Suffer to Sing the Blues,” one that our friend Norman Davis often requested.

Then for some reason, we got distracted by other bright lights and different shiny objects, and the Bromberg tune just sort of floated out of the Flood repertoire. But lately, for some reason, the it’s come drifting back to us.

And it’s a funny kind of reunion, because some of the newer members of the band, like Paul and Randy, had never heard it. Here’s a rendition of the song from a few weeks ago.

Norman couldn’t make the gathering that evening, but the tune had us singing his praises in absentia. Norman, this one’s for you, buddy! Click to hear the tune.