Everyone likes to say they march to the beat of their own drum, and the Flood Brothers have followed the unbeaten path for over ten years. These two best friends have ditched the drum and instead march to the beat of their own bluesy, boogieing, Mississippi River-bred music.
Gabe Meyer and Jacob Best started the two-piece group, playing music they describe as “hypno-boogie,” in a basement in 2000. Meyer describes “hypno-boogie” as simple groovy rock music.
“It’s got a really deep kind of blues influence, but I guess what I meant by ‘hypno-boogie’ is that some of our stuff is, in the best possible way, kind of repetitive,” he says. “Like a hypnotic drone, but it’s boogie music at the end of the day. It’s very danceable.”
The two have taken their boogie music all across the country, playing in a variety of theaters, bars and destination venues, Meyer says.
“As of right now, we don’t have a huge following — we’re not a huge, popular mainstream band,” he says. “So we prefer the tighter, cozier venues where it feels like you’re actually playing for some people even if no one’s out.”
However, it wasn’t until touring the country (including a tour with Kent Burnside from 2006 to 2010) and living the “luxurious” touring artist lifestyle did the two decide to release an album.
“It’s crazy — we’ve done so much touring, and paid our dues, and stayed in a bunch of shitty spots, and been poor and broke and really lived that gritty, fruitless, on-the-road lifestyle,” he says. “We’re kind of doing things backwards but that’s just the way it happened with us.”
Meyer says he is happy the album took so long to put together because it allowed the duo to put more thought and time into the songs.
The two have continued to tour, including playing at last year’s River Hills Elderberry Festival, which Meyer describes as part science fair, part music festival and part hippies selling stuff. Last year, the festival was held at the elderberry farm in Hartsburg. Meyer says the two played in a hot barn for a crowd of 20 people.
“We made some fans, and it was nice to get out in the country and camp for a night,” he says. “We got to try some awesome elderberry wine and elderberry beer and stuff like that.”
The group is returning to this year’s River Hills Elderberry Festival, which is being held at Mojo’s from Friday, June 7, to Sunday, June 9. The group plays Friday night.
Meyer says no one knows what to expect from the festival since it is in town this year. However, he has faith that it will be a great event.
“It’s going to be a amazing time at Elderberry with tons of good bands and I think that Mojo’s is the best possible alternative to doing it out in the country,” he says. “I think it will be really good event to kick off the summer.”