Brownout is an American Latin-funk band from

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. The band was originally formed as a side project of the members of the Grammy-award-winning band Grupo Fantasma. Though the band was formed in 2003, as Grupo Fantasma took off in the early 2000s, Brownout was left "on the backburner", and the band's first album, ''Homenaje'', wasn't released until 2008. Since then, the band has toured regularly across the United States, at events including Bonnaroo,

High Sierra Music Festival High Sierra Music Festival is a multi-day music festival held in Quincy, California, United States, a mountainous area about 80 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada. History The first High Sierra Music Festival was in 1991, and was the genesis of ...

, and Utopia Festival. Brownout has also served as a backing band for artists including

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

, Daniel Johnston,

GZA ''Gary Eldridge Grice'' (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA ( ) and The Genius, is an American rapper and songwriter. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both ...

and Bernie Worrell. In 2014, the group released a series of covers of the British band

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

under the moniker "Brown Sabbath", which received praise from Black Sabbath lead vocalist

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

, as well as critical acclaim from NPR,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. In 2018, Brownout released an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

cover album of Public Enemy songs titled ''Fear of a Brown Planet''. The album's title is a play on Public Enemy's 1990 album ''

Fear of a Black Planet ''Fear of a Black Planet'' is the third studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy. It was released on April 10, 1990, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records, and produced by the group's production team The Bomb Squad, who expanded ...

''. NPR described ''Fear of a Brown Planet'' as "a living, breathing brand of funk that can cross generations." Brownout's latest album, ''Berlin Sessions'', was produced by Steve Berlin of

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") are an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, ...

and was released by Fat Beats Records on March 6, 2020.

Discography

* ''Homenaje'' (2008) * ''Aguilas & Cobras'' (2009) * ''Oozy'' (2012) * ''Brownout presents Brown Sabbath'' (2014) * ''Brownout presents Brown Sabbath II'' (2016) * ''Fear of a Brown Planet'' (2018). * ''Berlin Sessions'' (2020)

References

{{reflist Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups from Austin, Texas American funk musical groups Six Degrees Records artists