The Chicken Chokers were an old-timey string band from the Boston area who intersected their roots influences with reggae, punk, and rap. Fiddler Chad Crumm and multi-instrumentalists Paul Strother, Taylor Smith, and Jim Reidy released two albums on Rounder, 1987's Shoot Your Radio and Old Time Music in 1990. But when Crumm departed for New York City, the group fizzled. The remaining Chokers went on to form Primitive Characters, a more tradition-oriented fiddle band. Together with fiddler Sandy Stark, the band issued The Leavin's in 1997. However, PC fizzled too, since the rigid song structure didn't allow for the kind of creativity Strother, Smith, and Reidy craved. This led to the formation of Twang with bassist Robbie Phillips. Twang's debut, Second Slam, appeared in 2000.