It’s not all just drinking beer around the campfire for Moonshine Bandits anymore

The Moonshine Bandits are older, wiser and just as rocking.

The duo, known for their distinctive outlaw hip-hop sound, are back with a new album that reflects their more mature – but still fun – approach to life. Los Banos-raised friends and musical partners Brett Brooks, known as Bird, and Dusty Dahlgren, known as Big Tex, have been making music together since their high school days. Their new album, “Baptized in Bourbon,” which comes out Friday, March 3, will be their seventh full-length release.

“A lot of our old songs are just feel-good, party-time songs. We have a couple of those on this album. We like to say this album isn’t just sitting and a beer by the campfire album. I think it was important for us as songwriters to reach that point in our career,” said Dahlgren, who still lives in Los Banos. Brooks, the other half of the team, lives in Nashville.

Dahlgren also calls “Baptized in Bourbon” the duo’s “biggest album to date” and features collaborations with country great David Allan Coe, fellow country rapper Colt Ford, “Follow Me” singer Uncle Kracker and Kid Rock guitarist Kenny Olson. They feel grateful to have reached a point in their career where they are able to work with these artists, including Uncle Kracker, who appears on the title track.

“We always wanted to work with him. We just weren’t quite big enough to call on guys who have sold millions of records,” Dahlgren said. “Now we’ve reached a point in our career that these guys are our phone calls,” he said.

Dahlgren said the switch from mostly party music to something more was part of that natural progression for the group.

“I think we’ve just improved our songwriting over the years. It’s almost a concept album in being blessed by what God gave us. But we are also asking ourselves are we doing the right thing being on the road all the time and being away from our families? It’s a reflection on all that,” he said.

It’s a journey Dahlgren said he believes their die-hard fans, dubbed Shiner Nation, will follow them on as well.

“I think that our fans appreciate real music. They appreciate the authenticity of it. They’ll be able to relate to some of the situations we’re talking about in this album. And we still have the fun songs,” he said. “But I think they’ll appreciate having more depth. And a lot of these stories are inspired by people on the road. A lot of people will say, ‘Is that me?’ ”

The Moonshine Bandits will embark on a 20-date, cross-country tour with the release of the album. This year they’ve begun adding more festivals, fairs and casinos, a sign of their growing name presence. Among them is the duo’s first ever show at the Merced County Fair on June 10. Dahlgren said they’re honored to play the event and consider it a homecoming show.

“We’re really excited about that. We’ve always wanted to headline a local fair and it never came through. It’ll be huge, it’s all ages. We can’t wait,” he said.

Area fans can catch a glimpse of the group sooner with its free Tuesday, March 7, stop at the Walmart on Mitchell Road in Ceres. Fans can meet and get autographs from the duo starting at 5 p.m.

The band’s relentless tour schedule, which has it playing 80 to 100 shows each year, has taken it to all but three states in the union. Dahlgren they’re grateful and astounded by each goal they surpass.

“Every time we’ve set a goal, we’ve met that goal. And once we meet that goal, we set another goal,” he said. “We’re blessed, we never thought we’d be playing with artists we grew up listening to.”

The men also are dedicated to giving back some of those blessings. Along with their own extensive lines of merchandise from clothes to energy drinks and beyond, the group has started a nonprofit called Operation Packing Co. The organization ships care packages to armed forces overseas for free. Dahlgren said the project started when the group noticed a large military presence in its fan base. The group, which started informally years ago, now ships about 400 packages a year including everything from clothes to food and more.

“It’s like a box of love from back home for these guys working so hard to defend our freedom,” he said. “It’s the least we can do to repay them, to give them something from back home.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 3:52 PM with the headline "It’s not all just drinking beer around the campfire for Moonshine Bandits anymore."