Ed Anderson and Scott Tipping have been making music and mayhem together since the late ’90s, when they hosted an open mic featuring drunken jazz artists, angry poets and puppeteers. Ed moved on to found roots rock trio Backyard Tire Fire in 2001. Through the 2000s, the band toured relentlessly, recording 5 albums and 2 EPs. Scott went on to become a mainstay of the Chicago music scene, playing and touring with bands like Mighty Blue Kings, Peter Himmelman, The Steak House Mints and Dayna Malow. Their paths crossed again in 2008 when Ed asked Scott to join Backyard Tire Fire on tour to round out the band’s sound. BTF’s album Good To Be, produced by Steve Berlin, saw them touring the country, headlining shows and opening for the likes of Los Lobos, Buddy Guy, ZZ Top and Cracker. In back alleys, dank hotel rooms and a van that at least once tried to kill its masters, a new music partnership was formed, and when Backyard Tire Fire decided to take a break from touring, Scott and Ed chose to bring together some of their favorite Chicago musicians to work on new songs: Steve Gillis (drums), Scott Stevenson (keys and vocals) and Matt Thompson (bass). The new project features songs by both Ed and Scott, staying true to the rock-and-roll tradition of BTF while transitioning into a more dynamic, harmony-oriented sound.

Singer-songwriter Mimi Betinis has been obsessed with music since early childhood. Growing up in suburban Oak Park, Illinois, the Betinis house was usually filled with the sounds of his mother’s imported Latin, Greek and classical records. “Everything from Mariachi to Vivaldi,” says Mimi, when asked about his early musical influences. “I even loved Eydie Gorme and Trio Los Panchos.” The British Invasion of the mid ‘60s impacted Mimi forever though–especially at age 12, when his Mom took him and his sister (in the family’s Pontiac Bonneville) to see the Beatles play live at Comiskey Park. “The year 1966 was ‘the year’ for me,” he says today of the experience. Within a few short months, he’d seen the Yardbirds (with both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page on guitar) at Chicago’s Civic Opera House–and the Jimi Hendrix Experience play there as well. Soon after, Mimi taught himself to play guitar and keyboards, and began writing his own three-minute pop-rock songs.

To what to attribute Merchants of Moonshine’s quick success depends on who you ask. The fans (a.k.a. Moonshiners) will tell you it is the energetic live show and original songwriting. The band will tell you that it’s probably because they are a group of younger musicians exploring and revitalizing an older style of country.