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This duo from the West Coast is all about breaking barriers and bending the rules in the world of music.
The Moonshine Bandits, composed of Dusty Dahlgren and Brett Brooks, based out of California’s Central Valley, bring a new level to the Cla-Zel Theatre in Bowling Green.
“This will be our first country rap show that we’ve done at Cla-Zel since we reopened. We’re excited to keep mixing it up and do something different,” said Christian Voyles, a promoter at the Cla-Zel.
Innovation Concerts, based in Toledo, offers a mix of genres to attendees from venue to venue. This company helps bring in performers to local venues, including the Cla-Zel.
“We run Frankie’s and the Ottawa Tavern in Toledo as well. We pride ourselves on switching it up. One night it’s punk, one night it’s metal, another night it’s the blues and in this case, it’s country rap,” Voyles said.
The Moonshine Bandits average 2.3 million monthly streams and 500,000,000 views on YouTube, according to their website. They are a previous holder of the #1 rap album in 2020; they continue to grow their audience through their work on new songs and music videos.
“They’ve had some recent success with some of their music videos; they basically sent out an invite that just said, ‘Hey, we’re partying at the lake, and we’re shooting a music video, come and hang with us,’” Voyles said. “There’s some decent success online from that video, which it’s always cool to see even bigger artists reaching out to their fans to collaborate with them.”
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The official fanbase of the Moonshine Bandits, Shiner Nation, is a loyal, connected fanbase built on going across the nation on tours with the occasional feature music video.
“I have seen a ton of artists recently doing pop-ups in the bigger cities… Chicago is a perfect example, you’d be like, ‘Hey, we’re going to be on the street in Chicago shooting the music video,’ and there’s guaranteed to be people there,” Voyles said.
Voyles finds artists who can connect organically with their fans important in a digital world filled with many inorganic pieces.
“Especially in today’s social media age of just advertisements constantly being pushed at you, I think it is important for those artists to keep that personal relationship with their fans,” he said.
Cla-Zel Theatre will be one stop on the Handcuffs and Honkytonk tour ranging from Florida all the way up to the 2027 Red, White & Booze Cruise in Mexico next summer.
Fans and music enjoyers can catch the Moonshine Bandits in Bowling Green on Nov. 13 at 7pm. For more shows coming to Cla-Zel Theatre, visit https://clazeltheater.com/.
For event information about parking and other details, reach out to Christian Voyles via email at [email protected]. To purchase tickets to the show, visit www.etix.com.
