Texas Headhunters—the blistering new band uniting Lone Star guitar heroes Ian Moore, Jesse Dayton, and Johnny Moeller—unleash their debut single "Maggie Went Back to Mineola" today, with their full self-titled album Texas Headhunters to follow on August 22 via Hardcharger/Blue Élan Records.
Tracked live at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studio over five fire-breathing days, Texas Headhunters strips the paint off the walls: 12 gut-punch tracks, snarling and hard-lived — Texas blues at its coolest and most combustible.
The sessions were engineered and co-produced by Grammy-winning veteran Steve Chadie (Willie Nelson, Los Lonely Boys), whose no-frills approach captured the band's unfiltered fire—raw, smoky, and as dangerous as a late-night pull of mezcal.
The first taste, "Maggie Went Back to Mineola," is a Jesse Dayton-penned tale of hard living and harder redemption. "A girl from Mineola goes to Dallas and becomes a stripper," Dayton says. "She gets into all this stuff, then comes home to work at the Dollar General and try to go to church. That's Ian on lead."
Driven by deep-pocket rhythms and barbed guitar licks, "Maggie" channels the same gritty spirit that powered early ZZ Top—bluesy, swaggering, and built to blast from a car radio with the windows down.
The magic is in the mix: Moore’s psychedelic edge, Moeller’s deep-pocket sting, and Dayton’s outlaw grind. All three sing. All three write. All three can burn the house down—but they also know when to lay back and let the groove breathe. It’s a dance, not a duel—and it hits like nothing else on the American roots scene right now.
This summer, Texas Headhunters make their live debut supporting Samantha Fish’s Paper Doll World Tour on a tight run of East Coast preview dates.
An official album release tour will follow in August, September, and October. Expect fireworks.
TEXAS HEADHUNTERS – FIRST TOUR DATES
with Samantha Fish’s Paper Dolls Tour
Thu, June 19 – Patchogue Theatre – Patchogue, NY
Fri, June 20 – Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT
Sat, June 21 – Narrows Center – Fall River, MA
Sun, June 22 – Payomet Performing Arts Center – North Truro, MA
Tue, June 24 – Empire Live – Albany, NY
Wed, June 25 – Asbury Hall – Buffalo, NY
🎟 Tickets on sale now at txhh.live
ABOUT TEXAS HEADHUNTERS
Formed by three veterans of the Austin blues explosion—Ian Moore, Jesse Dayton, and Johnny Moeller—Texas Headhunters isn’t a side hustle or a nostalgia act. It’s a statement.
Moore, the genre-bending guitarist who opened for the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan before forging his own soulful path.
Dayton, the Beaumont native who’s split time between punk, outlaw country, horror film scores, and Grammy-nominated modern blues.
Moeller, the secret-weapon guitarist of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and one of the deepest grooves ever to hit Antone’s.
The roots run deep. All three were among the last wave of young guns mentored by Clifford Antone himself—and Texas Headhunters lands fittingly as Antone’s celebrates its 50th anniversary. “We all grew up on that sound," says Moore. "Tailgators, LeRoi Brothers, T-Birds, Stevie. The blues in Austin was just cool. That’s what we’re feeling here.” Texas Headhunters isn’t a throwback. It’s a revival. It’s the sound of the real thing kicking the doors open again.
