Michelle, The Chick Singer, Lands Amongst Us

#236 / Flood Time Capsule: 2003

The idea came from George Walker, who in 2003 was the newly appointed producer of Joe Dobbs’ long-running weekly “Music from the Mountains” show on West Virginia Public Radio.

“Man!” George told Joe one evening, “you gotta hear my wife sing. She loves these swing tunes you all do!”

A chick singer! Joe thought. Always alert for new sounds he could bring to the band he helped form 30 years earlier, Joe wondered if this was such an opportunity.

To find out, Joe invited the young woman, also a public radio employee, to meet his band mates at their next rehearsal in the Bowen house.

In just a tune or two at that momentous jam session — exactly 20 years ago this week — Michelle captivated everyone in the room.

So much so, in fact, that before the week was even over, Michelle was invited to join the guys on stage to play her first Flood gig.

It Happened at Snowshoe

The event occurred as the band traveled into the eastern mountains to play at the 2nd annual Snowshoe Institute, an exciting cooperative arts project by Marshall University, West Virginia University, the state humanities council and Snowshoe Mountain resort.

Called ”a cultural kaleidoscope of educational entertainment,” the institute featured scholarly lectures, creative workshops, a variety of entertainment and numerous recreational activities.

Our appearance there owed everything to our old friend Dr. Wendell Dobbs. His own Huntington-based Irish band Blackbirds & Thrushes (formerly Shenannigans) already was on the bill. Wendell urged the organizers to include The Flood as well, and that night we shared the stage with them.

Some Tunes from the Evening

We even got to play along on a number with the group’s lead singer, the marvelous Linda Dobbs.

Click the button below for two tunes from the show. First up is “Maggie,” with Linda’s lovely vocals. This is followed by a hokum tune that was relatively new to The Flood repertoire. (“Lord, Ain’t the Gravy Good?” actually was suggested to us by George Walker; it later found its way to the band’s next album.)

Michelle’s Debut

But, of course, the highlight of that evening atop Snowshoe Mountain was Michelle’s Flood debut.

Joe already had asked George to record the evening’s performances for use on “Music from the Mountains,” so we have this recording of Michelle’s first public performance with the band. Click the button below for “Sunny Side of the Street,” complete with Joe’s introduction.

Years later, we were still talking about that night. In 2012, for example, when the band traveled to Lexington, Ky., for an encore appearance on the city’s famed “Red Barn” radio show, host Arthur Hancock chatted with Michelle about her debut as well as her life-long love of radio. Click below to hear it:

After Snowshoe

In November 2003, a few months after the Snowshoe show, Michelle was featured as a “guest artist” on the band’s third album, I’d Rather Be Flooded.

And by the time we recorded the fourth album, Wade in the Water, the beloved “Chick Singer” — as the guys all now call her, following Joe’s lead — was a regular member of the band and an essential ingredient in The Flood’s sound.

Post-Floodishness

Michelle remained an active member of the band for the nearly 20 years, stepping down only in 2022, when she left West Virginia for the Cincinnati area to live with her new husband, Rich Hoge.

Of course, it’s not that easy to end two decades of Floodishness. She is still very much a part of our lives. For instance, in May 2022 The Flood was on hand to help Michelle and Rich celebrate their nuptials. as reported here earlier:

Nowadays, Michelle and Rich regularly troop back to the area so Michelle can sit in at gigs with her old band mates. She wows the crowd whenever she joins us at Sal’s Speakeasy in Ashland, Ky.

Just last weekend, in fact, Michelle was with us there. Whenever she’s in the room, you know the joint will be jumping!

More Michelle

If you'd like to rock your day with a rich playlist of Michelle tunes from her decades of Floodifying, tune in The Michelle Channel on our free Radio Floodango feature.