From This Week's Flood Jam Session

This week's freebie from The 1937 Flood jam session features a great old Jean Ritchie composition.

Doug Chaffin has played with us for more than a dozen years now. Most nights he's busy driving the band on his big upright bass, but last night our buddy Randy Hamilton came by to sit in with his sweet acoustic electric bass, so Doug switched off to other instruments -- and he plays a bunch of them.

On this tune, you hear him take the first solo on guitar, but by the end of the song, Doug's switched to his fiddle. Oh, and if you listen closely, you'll hear Randy also singing that high harmony with us on the choruses. Hear the audio.

By the way, tunes from the jam sessions make up our weekly Flood podcasts. You can subscribe for free and get the music automatically delivered to your computer each Thursday. For details on that, click here.

From This Week's Flood Jam Session

This week's freebie from The 1937 Flood jam session features a couple of gospel tunes from our old friend Rob McNurlin.

We don't get to see Rob nearly often enough. But last night the Ashland, Ky., singer-songwriter was home from Nashville and waiting on the doorstep before the jam session even got started. The whole evening was shaped around Rob's tunes, and our favorite part was when we got him into a mood for some of his gospel tunes. Hear the audio.

By the way, tunes from the jam sessions make up our weekly Flood podcasts. You can subscribe for free and get the music automatically delivered to your computer each Thursday. For details on that, click here.

From This Week's Flood Jam Session

This week's freebie from The 1937 Flood jam session features a couple of tunes from a special going-away party.

Jacob Scarr started sitting in with us when he was 14 years old, and has played lead guitar as a regular member of The Flood for the past three years. Well, now Jacob's 18 and at the end of this summer, he'll be heading off to college in Colorado.

Last night we moved the regular Wednesday night jam session to Jacob's house, where neighbors, family, friends and Flood fans all came together for a huge send-off party in Jacob's honor. And of course, on this, the morning-after, we've got to share with our podcast family a couple of tunes from that special night. Hear the audio.

By the way, tunes from the jam sessions make up our weekly Flood podcasts. You can subscribe for free and get the music automatically delivered to your computer each Thursday. For details on that, click here.

From This Week's Flood Jam Session

This week's freebie from The 1937 Flood jam session features an old jug band standard, but with lots of new contributors.

One of the things we love about our Wednesday nights is that the weekly jam session is a kind of crossroads where old and new friends get to meet.

Last night, our old buddy percussionist Dan Trout dropped by on a trip from Athens, Ohio, and got to meet fellow drummer John Smith, who lately has been sitting in with us with his brushes and snare. Meanwhile, it was the first jam session for Paula Stewart, a talented member of Jim Rumbaugh's wonderful Huntington Harmonica Club. Here's a tune that features all our visitors. Hear the audio.

By the way, tunes from the jam sessions make up our weekly Flood podcasts. You can subscribe for free and get the music automatically delivered to your computer each Thursday. For details on that, click here.

From This Week's Flood Jam Session

This week's freebie from The 1937 Flood jam session features our take on a great 1933 Ethel Waters standard.

Michelle Walker, the chick singer, can't make it to the jam session every week, but it's always a special night when she arrives early and stays late. Last night was such a night. Michelle came in out of the rain with a song in mind that we could do as a little anthem for the stormy week we've had here in the valley. Hear the audio.

By the way, tunes from the jam sessions make up our weekly Flood podcasts. You can subscribe for free and get the music automatically delivered to your computer each Thursday. For details on that, click here.

From This Week's Flood Jam Session

This week's freebie from The 1937 Flood jam session features a little history lesson, hokum style.

Every May, The Flood plays one of its favorite gigs of the year. It's the annual Coon Sanders Nighthawks Fans Bash, a gathering here in our hometown of Huntington, West Virginia, that celebrates the early days of jazz and Dixieland.

For seven or eight years now, The Flood has come to the bash's Saturday morning session with a "Jug Band Breakfast," an hour or so of bacon and eggs with a liberal side of hokum tunes. In preparation for the day, we focused on our jug band repertoire at last night's jam session. Hear the audio.

By the way, tunes from the jam sessions make up our weekly Flood podcasts. You can subscribe for free and get the music automatically delivered to your computer each Thursday. For details on that, click here.

From This Week's Flood Jam Session

This week's freebie from The 1937 Flood jam session features a tune from fiddler Joe Dobbs' diverse musical background.

Spending his early years in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, Joe was exposed a wide variety of musical styles, from Cajun to country, blues to bluegrass, pop to polka. Forty years ago when he came north and east and helped us form The Flood, Joe brought us a huge song bag.

Here's one that was always popular with the sizable German population of Joe's old stomping grounds. And incidentally, this also is a substantial answer to anyone who thinks traditional fiddlers just want to plop down in plain D and stay there. "Clarinet Polka" makes three key changes each time through the melody. Hear the audio.

By the way, tunes from the jam sessions make up our weekly Flood podcasts. You can subscribe for free and get the music automatically delivered to your computer each Thursday. For details on that, click here.