How We Helped Create West Virginia

#404 / Flood Time Capsule: 2009

On a chilly Monday night in downtown Huntington 15 years ago this week, the band came in from the cold to entertain a warm crowd of several hundred West Virginians.

The venue was the lovely old Morris Building, 845 4th Ave., and the occasion was the second evening of a three-day “Create West Virginia” conference. The gathering brought together creative folks from all over the state to share their work, to collaborate and to learn from each another.

About Create West Virginia

Create WV was less than three years old at that point. The first conference, in November 2007, had been held at Stonewall Jackson Resort in Lewis County, then moved up into Pocahontas County’s Snowshoe Mountain Resort the following October.

The third conference, hosted by the city of Huntington, was the largest to date, with some 400 attendees and more than 40 sessions on various topics.

Entertainment for the visitors was provided each evening at venues throughout downtown Huntington. On this particular night, for instance, a big party called “Monday Night Out” featured events up and down Fourth Avenue, starting with a “Chat ‘n’ Chew” reception in the gorgeous lobby of the Frederick Building.

The Gig

At the Morris Building, the night started with a beautiful set by Marshall University's elegant classical guitar ensemble.

The students certainly classed up the joint, though after a half hour of such tastefulness, the crowd did get a little antsy, ripe for something rather more raucous.

Enter The Flood.

“We were more than ready to ramp up the rowdy,” Charlie Bowen told his cousin Kathy in an email the next morning, and the band hopped in with its hokum music repertoire.

“We opened with ‘Jug Band Music,’ followed by ‘Dead Cat on the Line’ and… well, never looked back!”

No audio from the evening exists — the band was still learning the ins and outs of its new digital recorder and this was apparently an “outs” day — but the evening wasn’t a total loss. Band buddy Larry Kendall was there to get some fine photos. Here’s a sample.

Annual Create WV conferences continued until 2017 at various locations. These days the group focuses on supporting a growing entrepreneur community through a daily online hub for makers across the state.

Calling 2009…

While the band’s Create WV night passed unrecorded, you can get an idea of what the guys likely played by taking your time machine back 15 years. Just tune in The 2009 Channel of the free Radio Floodango music streaming service.

The channel serves up a randomized playlist of songs that were featured on the weekly podcast that year. Click here to go back in Flood years!