Riverfront Redux

Fifteen years ago this week, The Flood was back at a favorite venue — Huntington’s Harris Riverfront Park — to celebrate the visit by a beautiful riverboat, the Belle of Cincinnati, and to entertain her passengers. It was a return engagement for both the boat and the band. Hospice of Huntington was so pleased with The Flood’s performance the previous year when it entertained those who came out for a sold-out fund-raising dinner cruise that the folks hired everyone back for a repeat performance. As with the earlier show, the weather was perfect for this October 2009 afternoon, and a lot of people who weren’t actually going on the cruise came down by the riverside just to spend a little time with the band.And band manager Pamela Bowen again demonstrated her mad videographic skills, filming her boys’ version of a great hokum music standard made famous in 1930 by Whistler's Jug Band of Louisville. (Incidentally, the band has NO COMMENT on the police car in the background of this video... The less said, as usual, the better...)Jacob’s New DoThe gig was the band’s first public job since 16-year-old Jacob Scarr officially joined up seven months earlier, and he was already generating his own bits of Flood lore.For instance, click the button below to hear the jolly chatter among his band mates at a Flood jam a week or so after the riverfront, all centered on when and why Youngblood cut his hair.And About That SongBy the way, if you’d like to know more about tune in the video — “Tear It Down” — check the earlier Flood Watch article on the song’s history. Click here to read it. There you’ll find out that the song actually has roots right here in the Huntington area, starting with Ashland, Ky., native trumpeter Clyde McCoy.Meanwhile, Want a Second Helping?Here’s another tune from that afternoon on the riverbank, with the guys rocking “Wade in the Water,” a song that also has strong ties in Floodlandia. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1937flood.substack.com