In the early 2000s, Joe Dobbs expanded his operations at his Fret ‘n Fiddle’s music store in downtown St. Albans to include a recording studio that he and his young staff dubbed “The Bunker.”
The idea was that at the very least Joe could use the facilities to record some or all of the episodes for his ongoing “Music from the Mountains” radio show.
What he really hoped, though, was that the new studio would be used by area musicians to create their next albums.
As usual, The Flood was to be the guinea pigs. And the band was primed, because the guys were eager to do a new album to follow up I'd Rather Be Flooded, which had been recorded three years earlier.
So, with hopes high, the lads trouped into The Bunker 19 years ago this week.
As it worked out, it didn’t (work out, that is). That’s because at the beginning of 2006, The Flood was still in a bit of a transition.
That Song
Nonetheless, the guys did get a few good tracks from the session, including the one featured in the video at the top of this article.
The backstory on this good old Lonnie Johnson tune, "Jelly Roll Baker" — which ultimately found its way to The Flood’s self-produced bootleg album, "Hip Boots” — was reported in an earlier Flood Watch article. Click here to read it.
Another reason that Jan. 11, 2006, was a memorable night in Flood Lore was because of the good work of Cincinnati fiddler/photograph Ed Strelau, who came along for the ride and took the pictures used in the above video. By then The Flood had known Ed for about four months.
Meeting Ed Strelau
The friendship started one afternoon in September 2005 when Charlie Bowen got a phone call from a stranger, a man who identified himself as “Ed.” He was from Ohio, he said, was staying at the Ramada Inn here, was in town on business. He played a little fiddle, Ed added, had heard about The Flood’s weekly jam sessions and wondered if he could stop by.
In the course of the conversation, Ed dropped Joe Dobbs’ name, which of course in Flood circles was as good as the “Open Sesame” got, so Charlie said, “Sure!” and gave him directions to the Bowen House.
The following Wednesday night Strelau arrives at the door promptly at 7 with a bag of pork rinds as an offering for the assembled pickers. He was introduced all around the circle — everyone but Joe already had arrived — and the group learned that for nearly 40 years Ed had been an engineer with Turner Construction of Cincinnati. Ed would be in Huntington through the end of the year to oversee work on a building project at Cabell-Huntington Hospital.
“We also learned that he played regularly with a band in Cincinnati that specialized in English country dance music,” Charlie later told his mom in an email. As the guys kicked into the evening’s first tunes, Ed grabbed a seat near the front. They were playing loudly a short time later when Joe slipped in the back door and headed to the adjoining room to unpack his fiddle.
“Hey, Joe,” Charlie called out between tunes, “your friend Ed Strelau is here!”
“Who?” Joe called back.
Hmmmm. Around the room, eyes turned toward Ed, who seemed equally confused.
“Oh, wait,” Ed said finally, “I didn’t mean to say I know Joe, only that I heard him on the radio!”
More Introductions, More Ed
Quickly more introductions were exchanged, Joe had a pork rind or two and joined the mix. At one point, Joe even passed his fiddle to Ed, who hadn’t brought one, but promised to come appropriately armed in future sessions.
That he did. In fact, Ed Strelau was a faithful player at the weekly jams for the next four months, not only contributing tunes, but also occasionally taking pictures of the group. Here’s an assemblage of his photos from the period:
Last Ed Jam
The band’s last get-together with Strelau came in early 2006. “What an evening!” Charlie told his mom in an email. “Ed brought his family for a visit. They went skiing and hiking in the mountains over the past few days, and he wanted to wrap it up with the jam session here.
“I was hoping the guys would come through for him and they really did,” Charlie added. “Bub delayed his trip to Florida by a day so he could be here, and Joe, who had an emcee job earlier in the evening, came about 10 to be here for the last hour or so. We also had listeners. Besides Ed's wife and son, we had Bill and Nancy Meadows and Tom and Sharon Pressman. It was midnight before Pamela and I got all those folks outa here.”
Ed Today
Ed Strelau has not been seen in the Huntington area for nearly 20 years now, but according to posts mined this week on the Internet, he’s still fiddling regularly with his friends in the Cincinnati English Country Dancers.
Share this post