Discovery Channel’s “Moonshiners” has gained quite a loyal audience, thanks to how entertaining it is. Though the authenticity of the show has been questioned numerous times, there’s no denying that “Moonshiners” always delivers the right amount of drama, comedy, and spirit-making shenanigans, literally.
The moonshiners featured in the show hugely contribute to its success, even those who’ve left TV screens without much of an explanation. That’s the case of Tyler Wood, a young Kentucky-based liquor maker, businessman, and singer who joined the cast in the third season, and later left before the sixth one, prompting many questions about his whereabouts.
So what happened to Tyler Wood and where is he now? Is he still making moonshine or completely focused on making music? Keep watching to find out!
What Is Tyler Wood Doing Now?
Following his exit from “Moonshiners” in 2016, Tyler Wood has been busy making business and music. He’s established his brand as a country music singer with the release of several singles and two albums in the last decade, on top of establishing the Tyler Wood Distilling Company, to revive his family’s century-old White Whiskey tradition.
Despite no longer being on TV, Tyler has made good use of the fame he gained in “Moonshiners” to move his career as a reality personality forward. Not only can his fans catch him attending liquor-related events, but they can also get his autograph and buy his merchandise at public meetings, or by booking him through his website.
All in all, everything seems to be going well for Tyler Wood these days!
Who Is Tyler Wood?
Long before becoming a reality show personality in “Moonshiners”, Tyler Wood has been exploring his talents in a wide variety of professional fields. He was born in 1984 in Kentucky, spending his early life working at his father’s farm while also learning to hunt and fish.
Later on, Tyler took a job as a machinist and learned the art of metalworking and copper building, before getting hired by the US Department of Defense in 2007, before his regular job as a Civilian Contractor took him to the Iraq War, where he lent a hand to the troops by organizing logistics.
Following his return to the US, Tyler worked at a gas pipeline installation project as an engineer, before leaving all of that to establish a lemonade distributor company, slowly but steadily learning how to manage a business. That cemented his decision to start making moonshine a couple of years later, giving the first step towards continuing his family’s legacy by distilling and distributing his White Whiskey around the US, and even to Canada, as he wrote on his website.
Sooner than later, the word about Tyler’s liquor reached the ears of “Moonshiners” producers, and it didn’t take long before he joined the cast in 2013.
What’s Tyler’s Business About?
Tyler Wood Distilling Company was founded in 2017, but there’s a long history behind it. As Tyler’s website states, his family had been crafting spirits since the 1800s, when John Wesley Wood, a farmer from Tennessee who fought in the Civil War, created a ‘secret’ White Whiskey recipe.
My Dad, the hardest working man I’ve ever known. I’m proud of the Wood Family name he gave me to carry on.
Happy Birthday Dad, I Love You pic.twitter.com/k68rvhj4ne— Tyler Wood (@moonshinertyler) April 4, 2017
John’s son Elijah continued the family’s tradition in the late 1800s and early 1900s, passing down the recipe to his sons with Isaiah ‘Rattlesnake’ Franklin on the lead. Besides being a farmer and lumber mill owner, Rattlesnake was an expert at hiding the moonshine business under the sawmill facility, to the point he managed to distribute his illegal spirits in Tennessee and Kentucky, helping the family make it out alive from the Great Depression.
Isaiah’s son Galen Ray continued the Wood’s tradition by not only becoming a bootlegger, but also a tobacco farmer and hunter, on top of being a car builder and businessman. He was the one to teach his son Tyler the family’s White Whiskey recipe at an early age, also leading Tyler to learn the ins and outs of the tobacco farm.
Besides the family’s long history of moonshine makers, Tyler was also to establish the Tyler Wood Distilling Company by the birth of his daughter Addison in 2017, admittedly using his ‘time and wisdom’ to expand ‘the legacy’ his ancestors passed down to him through their liquor.
Music
Tyler Wood made his debut as a country musician in 2014, with his extended play (EP) “Outlaw Soul”, containing six original songs. In 2016 he released the EP “Road To Redemption”, which includes the song “Little World”, written out of love for his daughter Addiso, chattrboxLater in 2016, he released the debut studio album “Who I Am” and its hit song “Dad” in honor of his father Galen Ray. The song eventually surpassed one million views combined across several platforms, as Tyler excitedly revealed in a 2018 Instagram post. Last but not least, Tyler released the 10-song-long album “My Hallelujah” in 2021, becoming his work of longest duration to date.
Tyler’s music has been warmly welcomed by his fans on social medi.a and those who follow him from his time in “Moonshiners”, as his YouTube channel alone has over 110,000 subscribers to date, with his most popular video being “Still Ridin’ Shotgun”, which has over 31 million views to date.
While Tyler often talks about everyday life and family themes in his songs, his music also reflects his views about politics and Christian faith.
All in all, Tyler not only has moved forward since the last time we saw him in “Moonshiners”, but has also become quite accomplished doing the things he loves.