Fan base gives Moonshine Bandits a successful glow

Even without the national record contract. Even without the new 42-foot tour bus. Even without their own signature board game. Even without all the other rock-star trappings, the Moonshine Bandits are pretty sure they’d be just fine.

The Los Banos-based duo of Brett Brooks, known as Bird, and Dusty Dahlgren, known as Big Tex, have carved a niche for themselves in country rap thanks to their legions of coast-to-coast fans. Dubbed Shiner Nation, the group’s loyal following was born in the Central Valley playing clubs and festivals in the region. Now, poised to release their seventh nationally distributed album next week, the outlaw hip-hop artists are excited to introduce their new music to fans old and new alike.

“This is geared at blue-collar people who works their a-- off all week, and so the weekend is their time to let loose,” Dahlgren said in a recent interview at one of their favorite watering holes, the Stevinson Bar & Grill. “Our music is about what’s real to us and what’s real to them. Doing shows and talking to fans, we get a lot of influence from their stories. So they had a hand in writing this album.”

“Blacked Out” comes out July 17 nationwide. Their last release, 2014’s “Calicountry,” hit No. 2 on the Billboard’s Heatseeker chart, No. 22 on the Top Country Albums chart and broke into the Billboard 200 for all albums.

This time out, the Bandits are shooting for Top 10 in country albums. The group’s latest release will come on the Average Joes Entertainment label, home to other country rap heavy-hitters like Colt Ford, Bubba Sparxxx and The Lacs. Those three, as well as a host of other artists, guest on the new record.

The duo said the new music, which was recorded over two weeks in a remote studio in Oregon, has a more live, rock feel to it than previous releases. They call “Blacked Out” their “next step forward” musically.

“I think our content has remained the same since the start, but our sound has gotten better. We’ve gotten better,” Dahlgren said. “This is by far our best album to date.”

With the new music comes a new tour. But this time around the Bandits will be traveling in style in their 10-bunk tour bus, which they’ve named The Black Pearl. The group bought the bus last fall. Before that they’d traveled largely in a Dodge van. And before that, in the early days, they rode in their Ford F150 truck. These days Dahlgren and Brooks tour with a seven-man crew and are joined on stage by a drummer and their longtime Ceres-based spinner DJ Chopstiqs.

“I think we’re really blessed to be able to do this. We’ve made smart business decisions that have not only helped us in the industry but set us up to have longevity,” Brooks said. “This is a career for us, not a hobby.”

To wit, neither man has had what they call “real” jobs for the past six years. When they did, Dahlgren worked as a graphic designer and Brooks worked construction and roofing.

Now the group has its own official liquor line (Outlaw Moonshine by Modesto-based distillery Valley Spirits), energy drink (51 FIFTY by an Atwater-based company), barbecue seasoning (Big Tex’s Rebel Rub) and – of course – a board game (Buzzed Up).

“This is a lifestyle brand, but from the grass roots,” Dahlgren said. “We’ve always done our own thing. We’ve never switched it up for the mainstream. We just took things we like, and that related to us. I think people root for that.”

Shiner Nation has certainly rooted for its band over the years, and in some indelible ways. Brooks said the band has seen thousands of fan tattoos dedicated to them. Fans also often travel from show to show and have even created special meet-ups for each other.

Still, for all its travels, the duo never forget their Valley roots. A private listening party for “Blacked Out” will be held in Livingston’s Cozy Corner this weekend. Then they’re off to Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota before their official tour kicks off Aug. 5 in Idaho. The band will swing back to California in late August with a CD-release party planned for Aug. 28 at Sacramento’s Ace of Spades.

Local fans can catch them as one of the returning Xclamation Festival headliners Aug. 22 in downtown Modesto.

“We’ve been at X-Fest almost from the start. (Festival founder) Chris Ricci has been great to us and gave us our big start in the Valley,” Dahlgren said. “We do this for the fans, many who have been there since the start.”

This story was originally published July 7, 2015 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Fan base gives Moonshine Bandits a successful glow."