Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Joe Flood is a veteran of the downtown N.Y.C. roots rock scene that swept through clubs like the Ludlow Street Cafe, Nightingale, and Rodeo Bar in the '80s and spawned such talent as the World Famous Blue Jays, Blue Chieftains, and Five Chinese Brothers. Both instrumentally and vocally he is a true inheritor of the rich rock-blues-country-folk blend of the Band. In fact, his work has been recorded by that legendary group, as well as by the Bottle Rockets and Diesel Only labelmate Laura Cantrell ("Pile of Woe" from her excellent Not the Tremblin' Kind). He has performed on albums by artists such as Kelly Willis, the Bottle Rockets, and Mojo Nixon. With his group Mumbo Gumbo, Flood released two vinyl singles on the Brooklyn-based Diesel Only in 1991. He also contributed a solo track to one of the label's celebrated "Rig Rock" compilations. In 1997, he released the independently produced and distributed solo album Hotel Albert. In July 2001, he dropped his first full-length for Diesel Only, Cripplin' Crutch. The effort featured production by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (the Bottle Rockets, Blue Mountain, Mojo Nixon) and a cast of musicians that included one-half of Steve Earle's touring band, the Dukes (guitarist Ambel and ex-dB Will Rigby on drums). ~ Erik Hage