Reviews

County Sales Review

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"This reunion disc is a good record with a lot to offer once you get past the first two tracks, which suffer from some grotesque singing."
-countysales.com

Review of 07 in the Old Time Herald

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Chokers '07 cd cover

Toni Williams wrote a nice review of The Chicken Chokers 07 in the April-May 2008 issue of "The Old Time Herald".

"Few bands can boast a signature sound. The Chicken Chokers do with a walloping rhythm section, machine gun banjo ukulele and rousing wall-of-sound singing."

"This is old time music at it's best. Not overly studied or rehearsed, but seasoned, driving and fun."

Thank you Toni!

Chokers & Flies Review - Troubled Times

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Troubled Times, Spring- Summer 1986, B. Idaho
Review of Chokers & Flies Old Time Music


On side one, the Chokers play up a storm and make me happy and sad in the space of twenty minutes. ... They represent what's good about old-time music; not sounding like bluegrass, but not sounding like "biblethumpers" either. ... I'd like to get my hands (and ears and feet) on a full-length record from this group.

Dirty Linen: 'Old Time with a Twist'

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Dirty Linen #133, Dec '07 / Jan '08 - article by Bill Chaissson

It is this exuberance and absolute absence of ironic distance from this music that makes listening to the Chokers such an uplifting experience.

The cover art by Q. Cassetti continues the tradition of putting arresting modern design out front instead of a picture of guys in hats stooped over banjos.

Interview with Tommy Tompson

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Dateline: 
Sunday, May 1, 1988
Teaser: 

Going Through Stages
The Many Careers of the Red Clay Ramblers
By Steve Romanoski
Option Music Alternatives, March/April, 1988

Here is Tommy Tompson talking about The Red Clay Ramblers:

While the band has maintained a high level of popularity in the folk music community, there are still hard-core traditionalists who look upon the work of the Ramblers with scorn. This is because the band takes chances with their sound and doesn’t worship past musical idols. The Red Clay Ramblers are pioneers in a field that is beginning to expand. Recently, two new bands have surfaced who take even more liberties with the style. The Chicken Chokers and Horseflies are young and innovative groups who, like the Ramblers, maintain a foothold in string band music, but take the genre one more step down the road. In the case of the Horseflies and Chicken Chokers, it is done with new wave-influenced vocals and instruments that include synthesizers.

http://originalredclayramblers.com/tt1988option.htm

Chokers & Flies Review - Houston Chronicle

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Dateline: 
Sunday, September 15, 1985
Teaser: 

Review by Marty Racine of Chokers & Flies - Old Time Music LP in The Houston Chronicle 9/15/85

The Horseflies' side swings like mad in a traditional format on banjo and fiddle, although the highlight is a droning version of ``Zion'', an old reggae tune originally recorded by the Ethiopians. The Chokers, by contrast, are sillier, more like a jug band reminiscent of the early '60s and Jim Kweskin. So out with the new and in with the old. Or is it the other way around?

Air raid siren vocals!

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Dateline: 
Sunday, December 7, 1986
Teaser: 

NEW ENGLAND'S FOLK 'FINEST' . . . HAS BOTH HITS AND MISSES
Steve Morse, Globe Staff. Boston Globe. Boston, Mass.: Dec 8, 1986. pg. 50

A Review of The Annual Folktree Festival of New England's Finest

The Chicken Chokers were not overly impressive -- the singer was as shrill as an air raid siren at times -- but their old-timey jamming connected with the crowd.

Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Oct 22, 1996

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Dateline: 
Wednesday, October 23, 1996
Teaser: 

Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Oct 22, 1996. pg. C.3
'The Primitive Characters, preservers of traditional string band music, play tomorrow at the Old Vienna Kaffeehaus, 22 South St., Westboro. Born out of the Chicken Chokers, the Primitive Characters now include guitarist Chip Smith, banjo player Michael Donoghue, fiddler Sandy Stark, banjo and ukele player Jim Reidy and bassist Paul Stother. The band is wrapping up work on an album due out this winter.'

Kudos: Chokers and Flies / Rounder Records 0213

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Dick Kimmel / Bluegrass Unlimited

"Two old-time bands sharing a recording of some of the best old-time music to be released in many years. Both these groups play with that unique drive and feeling made popular in many circles by Tommy Jarrell, Kyle Creed and other older musicians from the Galax, Va. / Mt. Airy, NC. area. If bands like The Chokers and The Flies continue to record and tour, this fine breed of old-time music will never be something of the past. It will always be exciting and fresh."

Kudos: Cajun and Bluegrass Festival - Escoheag RI

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Jeff McLaughlin / The Boston Globe

"Members of the Boston-based old-timey band, The Chicken Chokers, who turned in a scorching set to close the Friday night concert, were the most indefatigable jammers, with at least one Choker wailing away until dawn yesterday morning."

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