PRINTDynamic Duos: Gabe Meyer and Jacob Best
The Flood Brothers blend the sounds of Memphis rock 'n' roll and Mississippi Blues
Leah Beane
Gabe Meyer and Jacob Best have been a musical duo since 2000, but only donned The Flood Brothers moniker in 2010.
April 26, 2012 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Gabe Meyer and Jacob Best were playing a show at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago when they read “Flood Brother’s Sanitation” on the side of a dumpster. They had been searching for the perfect band name, and there it was. Gabe and Jacob grew up in Hannibal and have known each other for as long as they can remember. They have gone from jamming out in a basement, to touring and performing local shows at bars as the Flood Brothers.
Gabe had a resonator guitar from the ’30s, which turned him on to blues and country music from that era, and Jacob had a guitar from the ’60s. “It just kind of fit and this guitar was just like magic speaking out at me somehow,” Gabe says, “Jake’s drum kit is from the ’60s; it was just perfect for that sound.” Their style is heavily influenced by the early rock ’n’ roll sounds of Memphis and the Mississippi style of Blues.
In late 2005, they moved to Montana working for a snow removal crew and played gigs at local bars. Gabe and Jacob joined a band and toured coast to coast. While on tour, they spent the money that they made at shows driving to the next, and slept in cars full of six or seven other guys. “We were just scratching by, looking to make 50 bucks a night,” Gabe says. After playing at some well-known venues across the nation, the two came to a decision to branch off on their own as a duo. “Let’s work real hard on our own stuff rather than slaving away,” Jacob says.
The Flood Brothers landed in Columbia in 2008 with the goal of creating a local fan base and focusing on their own work. Although they play shows once or twice a month, Gabe says he misses being on the road and wants to be insanely busy with music in order to reach as many people as possible. They both agree that they need to start by attracting followers locally before they branch out to larger cities.
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Today, the two have other jobs to keep them busy between shows. Jacob works at the Columbia Equestrian Center where he is in charge of the business, renting land and boarding stables, and upkeep of the property. He gets to spend just the right amount of time outdoors before he goes home to play some music, watch TV and get some needed rest. Gabe bounces around doing odd jobs and is currently working a construction job in Hannibal. Outside of music, Gabe continues his laid-back lifestyle by taking any excuse to be outdoors and has even recently taken up mushroom hunting.
“There will be times where I take a month off to build a tree house or something like that,” says Gabe, “We’ll probably always play music together,” says Jacob.
