A 9-piece outfit formed sixteen years ago by members of Grammy Award-winning Latin revival orchestra Grupo Fantasma, Brownout has evolved into a musical force all its own. After garnering three Austin Music Awards, the band has continued to produce music that is unflinchingly progressive, while evoking the classic influences of artists such as WAR, Cymande and Funkadelic. They’ve performed at events including Bonnaroo, High Sierra Music Festival, Pickathon, FFFFest, Bear Creek Music Festival, Utopia Festival and Pachanga Fest, while regularly touring the U.S. Brownout’s also served as a highly in-demand backing band for artists including Prince, Daniel Johnston, GZA and Bernie Worrell.
After a surprise national hit in 2014 with their Black Sabbath inspired 'Brownout Present Brown Sabbath' album, the band released Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath Vol. II in 2016 via Ubiquity Records. The recording includes reimagined versions of “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Snowblind” and “Supernaut.” The tracks “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” and “Symptom of the Universe” features vocals by Ghostland Observatory’s Aaron Behrens.
Prior to the Brown Sabbath series, Brownout released three albums - Homenaje (Freestyle Records 2008), Aguilas & Cobras (Six Degrees 2009) and Oozy (Nat Geo 2012).
In 2017, the band released an original EP entitled Over the Covers (Fat Beats 2017), which was widely acclaimed by critics and heralded the next chapter for the band as it continues to evolve and explore new and funky musical realms.
In 2018 the band teamed up yet again with legendary hiphop label Fat Beats to release an album of psychedelic funk interpretations of Public Enemy classics called Fear of A Brown Planet. NPR said of the project "The guys in Brownout have done it again. They have gone to the deep well of uncut funk to produce yet another homage to classic soul that further burnishes their reputation as keepers of the funk flame...Brownout's dedication to Old School is not necessarily about preserving a musical relic but instead it's more about creating a living, breathing brand of funk that can cross generations."
Ever-prolific funk masters, the band is currently preparing the release of a new album of original works with producer Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) slated for release in March 2020.