Jimmie's Chicken Shack

Jimmie's Chicken Shack fuses funk-metal with ska and reggae while displaying unexpected skill on acoustic instruments. Jimmy HaHa, the lead singer, spent his formative years in Maryland and performed for several years alongside the band Ten Times Big. Once that group disbanded, he spent two years on the snowboarding circuit before organizing a series of acoustic sessions with acquaintances. To launch Jimmie's Chicken Shack he brought aboard drummer Jim Chaney, who had also played in Ten Times Big, longtime associate Che' Lemon on bass, and guitarist Dave Dowling, known as Double D. Operating out of Annapolis, MD, the quartet established their independent imprint Fowl Records and issued Give Something Back. After moving tens of thousands of copies in the Baltimore region, the band inked a deal with Elton John's Rocket Records and delivered their first major-label album, Pushing the Salmanilla Envelope. Retaining ties to their own label, they next put out The Original Recipe, an anthology of earlier material, and followed it in 1999 with Bring Your Own Stereo. Five years then passed before Re.present appeared in 2004.