Fall 2011
Joe Flood Sings Georges Brassens
I have admired the songs of Georges Brassens since I first heard them more than twenty-five years ago as a busker in Paris. His songs are like nobody else's, French or American, and over the years, I have been influenced by his style practically as much as by the Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Hoagy Carmichael, and Willie Dixon songs I grew up on. The closest thing America has to Brassens is Bob Dylan, but we all know the tale of Dylan going electric, and Brassens played his last gigs pretty much as he did his first, supporting his acoustic guitar on his knee with his loyal sideman Pierre Nicolas on double bass behind him. He brought none of Dylan's showmanship to the stage, just his songs.
Two years ago I set out to translate and record some of my favorite Brassens songs. I asked my friends Eric Ambel, Garth Hudson, and Mark Dann to help out and we enlisted some other great musicians to join us. We now have recordings of ten of my translations which we will be releasing soon. In the meantime, I have been adding these new versions to my shows and will be doing a series of shows the first Tuesday of every month at Cafe Nine in New Haven singing Brassens, in French and in English, and some other related material, too. I hope to turn this into a regular event where I can invite special guests and debut some new material and other translations as I do them, so please come out and support the effort if you get the chance.
You can read what poet Kenneth Rexroth thought about Brassens by clicking here. We will be making some of our recordings available for your listening pleasure soon, so please stay tuned.

Spring 2011

It has been a long and busy winter. In November I reconnected with my old friend, the great singer-poet Eric Andersen, for a gig here in Connecticut. We had such a good time that I sat in with Eric a couple of nights later on his gig at the Kate in Old Saybrook, and we are going to be playing a couple again this spring, beginning with a show at the Towne Crier in Pawling, New York on May 22. Watch the gigs page.
"Move To Japan", a song I co-wrote with Jim Weider, Levon Helm, and Stan Szelest for The Band's "Jericho", was re-recorded and released on Garth Hudson's new CD, "A Canadian Celebration of the Band". Garth is playing on all tracks with the likes of Neil Young and Bruce Cockburn and other great names in Canadian music. You can get it here.
I also got together with my alma mater, The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, for a standing room only appearance at The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown, CT. Search for them or me on youtube and you can see and hear a lot of the evening.
I have also just completed my Master of Arts in Romance Languages, translating songs of the great French songwriter Georges Brassens into English. We started recording them last summer with Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, Garth Hudson, Mark Dann, and Thierry Arpino, and recently finished up with Roscoe, Skip Ward, and Phil Cimino at Cowboy Technical in Brooklyn. These recordings will be available in one fashion or another very soon.
Lots happening. Check back soon!

Fall 2010

Thanks to everybody who came out to the show at the Kate for making it a great success. Not only was it a thrill to be able to play live with Garth Hudson and Eric Ambel in the same band, but a real treat to share the stage with Maud Hudson and my old friends Greg Trooper and Mike Foley. Maybe we can do it again sometime!

We'll keep you posted about upcoming dates and happenings this fall and hope to see you all again soon.

If you have of our night at The kate send them to us and we'll posted them right here. Thanks again.

A ROOTS ROCK RENDEZVOUS

Friday, July 30, 8 P.M. at

The Kate

300 Main Street

Old Saybrook, CT

WITH JOE FLOOD AND FRIENDS

Come celebrate the release of “New Kind of Blue” on Lakeside Lounge Records

with Joe Flood and an all-star ensemble

featuring Garth Hudson of The Band,

guitarist/producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel (The Del-Lords, Steve Earle, The Yayhoos, Nils Lofgren ),

bassist Mark Dann (everyone who’s anyone in folk music!),

drummer Diego Voglino,

and special guests!

FIRST TWENTY TICKET HOLDERS THROUGH THE DOORS GET A FREE CD!

Welcome to the News and gigs page where we will try to keep you informed about upcoming and ongoing projects, appearances, and releases.

The most exciting news right now is the American release of "New Kind of Blue" on Lakeside Lounge Records. We'll be marking the occasion with a concert Friday, July 30th, 2010 at The Katherine Hepburn Theater, aka "The Kate", in Old Saybrook, Connecticut featuring an all-star band: Garth Hudson, Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, Mark Dann, and Diego Voglino, and other special guests.

The CD is already available from the store page and as a download at most online stores. We'll be posting some samples soon.

Please check back for more dates and updates soon!