Videos

There's a rumor going around – okay, well, maybe we started the rumor ourselves – that the boys of The Flood don't show up on film. But we now have online proof to the contrary.

Live at Trackside! (teasers...)

Our new "Wade in the Water" CD was recorded in August 2011, when The Flood dropped in on the studios of Live at Trackside. We spent a great evening at this newly developed live performance video shoot that captures high quality video and audio recordings of bands performing in a relaxed atmosphere. We were made so welcome by Adam Harris, Michael Valentine, Bud Carroll, and the rest of the Trackside team.

And now we have have some samples to share! For video of our recording the Hokum Boys tune "Somebody Been Using That Thing," click here! Also, Trackside Live has rolled out a cool near-5-minute video teaser of some of the work we've been about. Click here to check that out! And finally, for more about the CD itself, including how to order it online, click here!

Meet Our Guest Stars!

The Flood is blessed with many friends who come to the Wednesday night jam sessions. Some times we have the presence of mind to ask Pamela to grab the FlipVideo camera and capture some memories of playing with these wonderful people. She has now assembled a healthy (and ever-growing) collection from these special Wednesday nights and we're now dedicating this corner of the web site to them. Click here check 'em out!

Jacob Scarr's Going-Away Do

It was a classic bittersweet evening, playing at the official neighborhood going-away party for Floodster Jacob Scarr, who leaves for college in Colorado at the end of summer '11. Pamela caught video of the June 8, 2011, festivities in front of Jacob's house.

Partying at The Wyngate

The Flood dropped by The Wyngate Senior Living Community in Barboursville, WV, March 9, 2011, to party with Shirley and Norman Davis and 30 or 40 of their closest friends. Pamela caught video of the proceedings.

 

Pickin' with Rog & the Bros.

The Flood took a trip to the Mount Sterling, Ky., home of Rog and Tammy Samples on a cold but bright January day full of music and memories and laughs.

Roger Samples is one of the founding members of The 1937 Flood and, back in the 1970s and '80s, played and sang with us for more than a decade before moving the Bluegrass State. We've always stayed in touch with Rog and his brothers, Mack and Ted, who form the legendary Samples Brothers Band. On hand with instruments for the Jan. 22, 2011, session were the old guard of The Flood (Joe Dobbs, Dave Peyton and Charlie Bowen), The Samples Brothers (Rog, Mack and Ted), fiddlers Buddy Griffin and Ben Shultz and bassist John Preston.The music went on from morning 'til dark. Click on the graphics and links below to see some of the video Pamela captured during the day's music.

Other YouTube videos from this grand day:

-- The Troubadour Song

-- Ragtime Annie (with Buddy Griffin)

 

Live from Pricketts Fort 2010

Pricketts Fort, just outside Fairmont, WV, has always been one of The Flood's favorite recurring gigs, and the August 2010 incarnation of this wonderful visit was especially sweet, because we had in tow our good steamboatin' buddies Cathy Barton and Dave Para who came along as guest stars for the show. Click an image below to see video from the evening.

Live from Coon Sanders 2010

The Flood has played the breakfast session of the annual Coon Sanders Fan Bash Reunion, a traditional jazz fan gathering in Huntington, for years now. This year, Pamela got video of a bit of it, including our traditional kazoo workshop on "Rag Mama/Gimme Dat Ding." A highlight of the morning was getting Dale Jones, the organizer of the yearly event, up on stage to do "All of Me" with the band -- and we worked him like a borrowed mule, getting his vocals with Michelle Walker, as well as solos on his cornet ... and one on a trombone mute. (Hey, you gotta hear it to believe it!) We also surprised Dale with a presentation, making him an Ornery Member of The 1937 Flood, and Pamela caught that moment too. All the clips are below.

Live from the Riverfront

In October 2009, The Flood headed down to Huntington's Harris Riverfront Park for what's happily become the band's annual shoutout to the Belle of Cincinnati and her riverboat passengers. For the third straight year, the Belle sailed to town for the big "Lights of Autumn" fundraiser for Hospice of Huntington. The Flood -- sponsored again by the good folks of Magic 97.9 (thanks, guys!) -- offered free pre-boarding entertainment at the top of the park's amphitheater area. Here are several videos from the evening's frivolity. Click any of the images below to see the video.

 

WSAZ-TV's Feature

Anchorman Tim Irr of Huntington's WSAZ-TV dropped by one of the Flood's weekly jam sessions in February 2009 and produced a feature story that beautifully captures the fun and foolishness of a Wednesday night at the Bowen Bower.

Click here to view Tim's entire four-minute report.

The Flood Flix

Here is more than an hour of additional music, film and photos in the form of music videos the Flood produced in 2008. Click an icon below to see The Flood move around and things...

A big hunk of Flood history is covered here. Nearly a third of the videos are built around music and photos from the band's early days -- some from as early as 1979 -- with the sounds and images of Rog Samples, Stewart Schneider, Bill Hoke and other former Floodsters.

Two of the videos feature the great Chuck Romine, whose tenor banjo gave The Flood a new sound for more than five grand years. We even get to hear Chuck singing on a special rendition of “Bill Bailey,” recorded live in concert in the summer of 2002.

Of course, no collection of Flood tunes would be complete without some numbers by The Chick Singer. Michelle Walker's fabulous vocals are heard on “Walking After Midnight” and “Blue Moon.” She also joins in The Flood chorus on other videos in the set.

Speaking of wonderful singers, one video documents Kathy Castner's 2004 visit with the Flood, doing her drop-dead gorgeous version of that great Dobie Gray tune, “Lovin' Arms,” a track that also features Doug's terrific mandolin solo.

Music for these videos come from a wide variety of sources. The older pieces – Dave and Joe's “June Apple,” Charlie's rollicking “Samson & Delilah” and “Mama Don't Allow” -- come from party and coffeehouse tapes that somehow survived the '70s and early '80s.

Other pieces – like “Backwater Blues” and “Hootchie Coochie Man / 7th Son” featuring some hot guitar riffs by Jacob Scarr and Bub's driving bass – comes from tapes made at recent jam sessions.

Others – like Sam's crowd-pleaser, “Ain't No Free” and “Crazy Words, Crazy Tune,” with ragtime piano genius Jazzou Jones – were recorded live at the Flood's annual Coon Sanders Nighthawks Reunion gig last spring.

Some – like Dave and Charlie's “Georgie Buck” and the band rocking on “Jug Music Band” -- were captured by Pamela at recent gigs or practices with a hand-held Flip Video recorder.

Hands down, the best music of the entire collection -- “Down in the Flood,” “Didn't He Ramble?” “No Ash Will Burn,” “Sittin' on Top of the World” -- are the tracks recorded and mixed by long-time Flood pal, Bo Sweeney. Somehow Bo managed to make the practice room at the Bowen Bower sound like an uptown recording studio.