Originating from California, a fresh bluegrass trio was assembled by twin sisters Dana Burke—born Dana Schankman in Los Angeles, California, and handling vocals plus banjo—and Lauren Mills—born Lauren Schankman in the same city and covering vocals with fiddle—alongside their brother Michael Alden, born in 1985 and contributing vocals on bass. The sisters, who had worked as child actors, first embraced country music during their early teenage years, with Dana mastering the banjo and Lauren the fiddle. Their growing attachment to the bluegrass sound drew notice from the legendary Ralph Stanley, who repeatedly invited the pair to share his stage. While still sixteen, the twins self-financed their debut album Duality, which blended traditional bluegrass, country, and Cajun material before appearing in 1996 on the family-run City West Records imprint. They subsequently adopted the stage name the Schankman Twins and kept performing regularly even as they pursued ethnomusicology studies at UCLA, by which point Michael had started appearing with them on bass and backing vocals. The trio’s technical command, gentle vocal blends, and striking appearance soon caught the eye of several major labels, leading to a contract with Rounder Records. Following yet another rebranding as Malibu Storm, the group recorded its Rounder debut; issued in 2004, the self-titled album was introduced through a countrified rendition of Def Leppard’s earlier hit “Photograph.”
