Joe Flood is a musician and songwriter working in Connecticut and New York, although he started his career as a street musician in Europe. A veteran of the '80s NYC roots rock scene,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

has described him as "a true inheritor of the rich rock-blues-country-folk blend of The Band." The Band has also recorded some of his songs, as have

Laura Cantrell Laura Cantrell (born July 16, 1967) is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Cantrell moved to New York City from her native Nashville to study English at Columbia University. She briefly recorded songs with ...

the Flying Neutrinos The Flying Neutrinos are an American jazz band from New Orleans. The band consists of Ingrid Lucia (vocals), Dan Levinson (saxophone), Matthew Munisteri (guitar), Todd Londagin (trombone), Jim Greene (double bass), and David Berger (drums). Davi ...

, and

the Bottle Rockets The Bottle Rockets were an American rock band formed in Festus, Missouri in 1992, and was based in St. Louis, Missouri. Its founding members were Brian Henneman (guitar, vocals), Mark Ortmann (drums), Tom Parr (1992–2002, guitar, vocals) and To ...

. He's also done sessions work for various artists, including

Mojo Nixon Mojo Nixon (born Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr.; August 2, 1957) is an American musician and actor best known for his humorous, irreverent Novelty song "Elvis Is Everywhere" which was an alternative staple on MTV. His style can generally be defined ...

Harry Chapin Harold Forster Chapin (; December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy ...

Kelly Willis Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

Artie Traum Arthur Roy Traum (April 3, 1943 – July 20, 2008) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. Traum's work appeared on more than 35 albums. He produced and recorded with The Band, Arlen Roth, Warren Bernhardt, Pat Alger, Tony Levin, J ...

, and

Blues Traveller Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performance ...

. He's co-written with Jono Manson,

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

, and

Jim Weider James Jeffrey Weider (born December 21, 1951) is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the Band. He joined the reformed version of the Band in 1985 to replace original guitarist Robbie Robertson. Biography A native of Woodstock, ...

, among others.

Early work

Throughout the 80s, he busked across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, before settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1988. In the early 90s, he performed and played with his band, ''Mumbo Gumbo'', and was at that time described in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

as having "a raspy voice that perfectly straddles the fence between country and blues." A few years later, he independently released his first solo album, ''Hotel Albert'', in 1997. ''Crippling Crutch'', his second album, featured

Will Rigby Will Rigby is an American musician known for being the drummer of jangle pop band the dB's, a band he formed along with Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, and Gene Holder in the late 1970s. He has also performed with many other artists and has release ...

, was produced by and also featured

Eric Ambel Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (Born August 20, 1957) is a New York City–based guitarist and record producer, originally from Batavia, Illinois. He has worked with a wide range of artists including Nils Lofgren, The Brandos, Steve Earle, the Yayhoos, ...

, and was released by Diesel Only Records in 2001.

Recent Work

Mumbo Gumbo's singular record was only released in its entirety in 2013. More recently, he self-released an album of translations of

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and a ...

songs in English; produced an album of Danny Fitzgerald and the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band (whose alumni include

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

and

Madeleine Peyroux Madeleine Peyroux (born April 18, 1974) is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album ''Carele ...

); won grants from the city of

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts to put together an album in tribute to 19th century Middletown songwriters; and wrote and recorded a collection of songs for the

Nantucket Historical Association Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuset ...

Discography

As primary artist

* 1990: Mumbo Gumbo * 1998: Hotel Albert * 2001: Cripplin' Crutch * 2010: New Kind of Blue * 2013: Mumbo Gumbo (remastered) * 2013: Danny Fitzgerald and the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band * 2014: Joe Flood Translates and Sings Georges Brassens * 2015: Songs from the Bend in the River * 2017: A Troubadour's Tour of Historic Nantucket

Personal life

He currently resides in Connecticut with his wife, artist and illustrator Liz Grace. They have two adult children.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flood, Joe Living people 1960 births American multi-instrumentalists American male singer-songwriters