“Songs bursting with eccentric characters ... a voice that perfectly straddles the fence between country and the blues…”
– Karen Schoemer, The New York Times
" Joe Flood has made the kind of album that ought to send any alt-country neophytes scattering for the exits. The tracks emerge from a songwriter who's been around the block long enough to really have something to say.”
– Erik Hage, All Music Guide
"What a talented musician, singer, song writer. He plays mandolin, fiddle, and guitar and sings like an angel. His songs are bluesy and melodic and tell great stories."
--Jennie Munro, Connecticut Storytelling Center
"Flood sings with the easy confidence of a seasoned pro."
--Brian Slattery, New Haven Independent
Joe Flood is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in New Haven, Connecticut. He has written songs with Levon Helm of the Band, and his songs have been recorded by The Band, The Bottle Rockets, Joan Osborne, and Laura Cantrell, among many others. Along the way he has played with tap dancers in New Orleans, Cuban musicians in Key West, Florida, gypsies in France and Italy, and done stints as a sideman with Blues Traveler, The Band’s Rick Danko, Eric Andersen, Kelly Willis, Happy and Artie Traum, Mojo Nixon, Tom Russell, Sylvia Tyson, Greg Trooper…and the list goes on.
His live performances draw on his deep catalogue of original songs that speak to the present while aiming for the timeless with humor and poetry, interspersed with stories of his experiences as a busker in the U.S. and abroad, a journeyman songwriter and studio musician, and his scholarship on the history of American folk and popular song.
His latest 2026 release consists of two albums: Park Walk Bike Bus Train and Fables, Fibs, and Foibles. Conceived as "flip sides" of each other, the two albums cover a wide swath of lyrical and sonic ground and feature 38 musicians including guitarist Jim Weider of The Band and artist/producer Jono Manson.
His 1998 self-released Hotel Albert was followed by the critically acclaimed Cripplin' Crutch on the influential Diesel Only Records in 2001. Since then, Joe has released six more albums under his own name and been featured as a sideman or songwriter on countless others. He has worked on several albums with producer Eric "Roscoe" Ambel; written and recorded with stalwart roots rockers the Bottle Rockets and producer/artist Jono Manson; had his song sung on the Conan O’Brien Show by country singer Laura Cantrell and had the thrill of hearing legendary jazz great Doc Cheatham soloing on a recording of another.
“All Roads,” a twelve song set of original songs exploring blues forms and themes and their connections to Afro-Cuban, gospel, rock ’n’ roll, and country music, was released in 2021. Brian Slattery in the New Haven Independent wrote, "With All Roads, Flood has put us all on the guest list for his club, somewhere between New Haven and New Orleans, and it's a place you don't really want to leave."
"A Troubadour's Tour of Historic Nantucket," a ten song commission inspired by historic sites on Nantucket island, was released by the Nantucket Historical Association on June 30, 2017 with a concert at the Nantucket Whaling Museum.
His 2015 release, “Songs From the Bend in the River” (Jungle Curry Records) is a tribute to three 19th Century songwriters from Middletown, Connecticut where Flood grew up. The album is the product of three years of research funded by a grant from the City of Middletown and another from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, which culminated in a multimedia performance piece for 12 musicians and 8 narrators presented at Middletown High School in April of 2015.
His New York based group, Mumbo Gumbo, co-founded with songwriters George Breakfast and Rachelle Garniez in 1988, released two singles on the Diesel Only Records label. A collection of twenty of their earlier recordings was re-released digitally in 2013.
In 2012, Joe released an album of ten translations of the great French songwriter Georges Brassens produced by Eric Ambel and featuring Garth Hudson of The Band.
In the 1980's Joe worked the streets of Paris with the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band whose alumni include Madeleine Peyroux. In 2013, Joe and former bandmate Mark Herschler produced an album of Danny speaking about his life and singing some of his extensive repertoire of classic blues and jazz. Madeleine later made this beautiful song and video tribute to Danny.
