Annapolis, MD. (Top40 Charts/ Fowl Records) - There is no question that Jimmie's Chicken Shack is one of the hardest working rock bands out there, having toured constantly since 1995. In addition to headlining their own tours in the U.S. and in Europe, Jimmie's Chicken Shack has shared the stage with bands such as Live, 311, Creed, Fuel and Everclear. Fail On Cue, set for worldwide release on April 15, marks the band's triumphant return to Fowl Records, the mid-Atlantic indie label that championed their first four albums.
Albums five and six were released on various permutations of Rocket, A&M and Island/Def Jam, and Koch Records put out the seventh. "High," the band's first major label single from the 1997 album, Pushing the Salmanilla Envelope, eventually landed in the Top 10 of the active rock charts with heavy rotation in MTV's buzz bin. Do Right, Jimi's ode to an ex-girfriend from the second Rocket album, Bring Your Own Stereo also took up residence in the alternative rock charts for a year, resulting in yet another Top 10 hit that ultimately crossed over to Top 40 play lists. Jimmie's Chicken Shack has shared festival stages with nearly every major alternative rock band. Some of these tour-bus friendships led to co-writes with, such luminaries, as Aaron Lewis (Staind), Art Alexakis (Everclear), Butch Walker (Marvelous 3), Mark Tremonti (Creed) and John Wozniak (Marcy Playground).
The road takes its toll and there have been many personnel changes over the years but the current lineup is, without question, the most powerful yet, drawing from the cream of mid-Atlantic bands. But the centerpiece has always been Jimi Haha's dynamic and sometimes hilarious stage presence - his exciting, eccentric melodies, riffs and chord changes and his biting, often ironic, lyrical take on life. It's all about the music and the performance for the band that, despite selling millions of albums on major labels, will never bend to fit. "We mix up a lot of different sounds," says Jimi, "We're schizophrenic because our tastes are."
HaHa got his musical start singing an a cappella version of the Beach Boys' Surfin' as a second grader in an elementary school talent show. He started playing music when he was 12 and singing when he was 15, "because I got expelled from school." His musical influences run the gamut from the Beatles, to Jimi Hendrix, to Bob Marley, to Black Sabbath, to Ministry, to the Grateful Dead. Jimmie's Chicken Shack was named after the Harlem restaurant where "Malcolm X used to hang out before he became Malcolm X."
Songwriting is as essential to Jimi as any other bodily function. "I'm like a faucet and I like to keep it on so my plumbing stays clean," he explains. "I spit out a lot of stuff." Haha's most memorable songs are often based in humor. One of the major tenets of Jimmie's Chicken Shack's philosophy is to always expect the unexpected-and embrace your mistakes. "I think that's the coolest part of art," HaHa muses. "Whether its music or painting, mistakes are crucial. So why the hell you gonna work them out?" In fact, when Jimi is not playing music he can often be found painting. He has had many successful exhibitions featuring his abstract-surrealist creations often painted on reclaimed cardboard. "It disintegrates," says Jimi, "I like that."
