Pajama Jams: Parties for the Pandemic

#51 / Flood Time Capsule: 2020

Two years ago this week, as the devastating COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping the world and shutting down activities at schools and businesses, churches and entertainment venues, The Flood ended its regular weekly rehearsals for the next six months.

Wanting to join musicians around the world who offered free online performances to try to ease the tedium of having to hunker down and wait the thing out, we launched a new series of videos we called “The Pajama Jams,” because — get it? — you could attend in your pj’s … or, well, heck, buck naked, if that’s what tuned your fiddle!

The series consisted mostly of never-before-released audio and video recorded at assorted Flood jams and rehearsals and on-stage performances over the decades, especially those at which friends came to sit in with us. Throughout Spring 2020, a new PJ Jam video was released each Saturday morning. By the end of the season, it amounted to nearly 15 hours of music and stories.

It’s All YouTube-Able

Today you can watch and listen to the shows in the order in which they were released by visiting this page on our website. But honestly, a much better way to enjoy this huge collection is to find your favorite performers by genres. Just click a name in the list below and you’re off to that video on YouTube.

Virtuoso Players

We’ve had many remarkable players sitting in with us over the years, none hotter than:

— Florida fiddler Paddy King, and

— Ohio guitarist Jesse Smith.

Traditional Appalachian Music

Want banjos and fiddles and tunes from the hills? You got to catch our films of:

— The Samples Brothers with Buddy Griffin, and

— Rod & Judy Jones, our beloved Australian friends.

Keyboard King and Queen

How about a little keyboard magic from some good old steamboatin' pals? Don’t miss the time that:

— Phyllis Dale absolutely lit up an evening at the Bowen house, or when

— Jazzou Jones classed up a Flood set at the Coon Sanders Nighthawks Reunion.

Folk Music

Is folk music more to your taste? You’ll want to have a video visit with:

— Mike Smith, our British balladeer and fiddler, and

— Cathy Barton & Dave Para, our dear folkie friends from the wilds of Missouri.

Blues

The Flood is never far away from a good blues, especially when we can jam with remarkable players and singers like:

— Chris Sutton,

— Jim Rumbaugh and

— Jacob Scarr.

Singer-Songwriters

We’ve always been honored that some of our talented composing friends find our home an inviting venue in which to share their work. Among the fine singer-songwriters featured in the PJ series are:

— Douglas Imbrogno,

— Rob McNurlin and

— Tom Norman.

Shorty Pajamas

Oh, but wait. You say that’s all fine and good, but you don’t have 15 hours to spare right now. Well, heck, what do you do with your time? No, seriously, we understand. If you’re pressed for time but still would like a taste of the tunes, why not check out our 2018 film, “Flood and Friends,” in which snippets from many of these evenings were featured?

Enjoy!