Thursday, August 2, 8 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
A chart-topping country duo that scored the rare feat of having an album simultaneously debut at number 13 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and number 10 on its Top Rap Albums chart, Moonshine Bandits performs at Davenport's Redstone Room on August 2, treating audiences to the singular stylings that led SputnikMusic.com to state, “Fans of either hip-hop or country should be able to find something they like … since the two genres are made to complement each other so well.”
Composed of Dusty “Tex” Dahlgren and Brett “Bird” Brooks, Moonshine Bandits formed in Los Banos, California, in 2003 as a self-described “old-school hick-hop crew,” the duo's album debut Soggy Crackerz followed by 2006's Prohibition and 2010's Divebars & Truckstops. After signing with Suburban_Noize_Records, however, for the release of their 2011 album Whiskey & Women, Dahlgren and Brooks finally charted among Billboard's U.S. Country Releases inclusions, and began to earn significant critical praise, to boot. Noting that “the duo knows their way around a nice rhyme and delivery,” RoughStock.com lauded Whiskey & Women's songs by saying, “The guitard on 'Shine with Me' are a twangy delight, the kick drum invites dancing, and 'Whiskey River' has a melody that recalls the sound of The Tennessee Two who gave Johnny Cash his distinctive sound.”
In the years since, all three of Moonshine Bandits' subsequent albums – 2014's Calicountry, 2015's Blacked Out, and 2017's Baptized in Bourbon – have landed on the top three of Billboard's U.S. Heatseekers chart, with the musicians' most recent standing as the duo's first bona-fide chart-topper. The album also resulted in the most enthusiastic raves Moonshine Bandits has yet received. RapReviews.com wrote, “Moonshine Bandits fit into hip-hop's oral traditions by telling stories with an ability to color the blank canvas of your imagination,” while Nashville Country Club magazine called the musicians' recording “chock full of their distinct Southern-rock swagger and signature outlaw-country sound,” adding “Fans of both hip-hop and country will appreciate what the Moonshine Bandits have produced.”
Moonshine Bandits plays its August 2 Redstone Room concert with opening sets by Michael Moncada and Whiskey High, admission to the 8 p.m. show is $15-18, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)326-1333 or visiting RiverMusicExperience.org.
