Had 'Em Dancing in the Kitchen
#372 / Flood Time Capsule: 2000
Soon after Doug Chaffin joined The Flood nearly a quarter of a century, he realized he had come into a new kind of musical experience.
“Donna Jean,” he told his wife in the winter of 2000, “I’ve been playing in bands since I was 15 and it’s always been ‘Big me and Little You.’
“This is the first band I’ve ever been in,” Doug went on, “where everybody is trying to make everybody else sound good!”
After six months into Doug’s Floodishness, he and Donna already had hosted the guys for jam sessions in their Ashland, Ky., home three or four times.
Twenty-four years ago tonight was an extra special session, a jam that was more like a concert, complete with a second band. And as Charlie Bowen told his mom in an email the next day, the evening started differently too.
“I got a phone call from Joe Dobbs about 5 o'clock,” Charlie reported, “saying that he had just gotten in from Baltimore and wanted to rest a bit, so he opted out of our usual dinner plans and said he'd meet me in Ashland.“
Charlie called Dave Peyton to flag a ride with him and Susie to the get-together.
“When we got to Doug and Donna's,” Charlie wrote, “there already was a house full of folks, including a few musicians I've been knowing for a long time, though I've not jammed with them since New Year's Eve at Nancy McClellan's party.”
Joe also had already arrived, riding his motorcycle in from Hurricane. The four of them — the band was still quartet in those days — unpacked instruments and launched into a warmup tune.
“Now, honestly,” Charlie wrote, “I wasn't expecting much from Joe, since he'd been on the road all day, but whoa! Joe was hot, driving the music faster and harder. In fact, between tunes we kept asking things like, ‘Stop for a lot of coffee on the way home, d'ya, Joe?’ I love the chatter we have during the songs these days.”
J.P. Fraley in the House
The Flood rocked on for 45 minutes or so, during which time, more people came, including J.P. Fraley, the local fiddling legend, an old friend of the Chaffins.
“Of course, we've all known J.P. for 30 years,” Charlie wrote, “and he's looks better now than I've seen him in years, and still as sharp as a tack. And still can play too.”
This was four years since J.P. lost his wife and musical partner, Annadeane, who died in 1996 at age 70.
After the Flood ended its first set, J.P. unpacked his fiddle, Joe grabbed a guitar and away they went on 45 minutes of fiddle tunes.
“Toward the end of their set, Joe's got his fiddle going again, Doug got his own fiddle, Dave fetched his Autoharp and I started thumping along behind them on guitar. “
Later, after J.P. left, The Flood came back for another hour or so, including some of the swing stuff the guys had been working up lately.
“Shoot,” Charlie said in his email, “we even had them dancing in the kitchen to ‘Ain't Misbehavin'.”
More Flood Lore?
By the way, if you want more stories from the Floodisphere, check into the regularly updated Flood History of this newsletter, which goes back to the beginning of the band’s 50-year journey.
