“Swampwise” Secrets, Songs & Stories from “The Land of the Trembling Earth!” by Okefenokee Joe is a four disc collection of original songs and quirky stories about swamp life in the southeastern United States. Okefenokee Joe is the alter ego of Dick Flood. Flood was prolific in the early country music scene, known for his singing and crafting of chart-topping songs for other artists. He was a regular on the Grand Old Opry and spent many years touring nationally and internationally with his band, The Pathfinders. Despite being active in the Nashville country scene, Dick Flood never got that big break so many performers try to attain. In 1973, in his early forties, Dick packed up his Volkswagen Thing and faded into Georgia’s Great Okefenokee Swamp and became …show more content…
After leaving the swamp, he continued his work as a wildlife educator. He combined his love of the swamp and his musical background to craft fun and educational songs about life in the swamp. After finding success on Georgia Public Broadcasting, Okefenokee Joe went on to publish wildlife books and professionally record many of his unique songs. Swampwise is a collection of many of those songs and is interspersed with parables of the lessons he learned while living in the swamp.

All of the songs on the first three CDs are introduced by a story told by Okefenokee Joe. The sound quality during the story portion makes the listener feel like they are at a live event listening to someone up on a stage. The subsequent song builds on the story, often with some lesson to be gained about nature or man’s interaction with the natural world. The collection also includes a bonus CD of songs with no accompanying narration. Many of the bonus songs are stories about the Indians that used to live in the swamps and the contentious relationship that existed between them and the American