Jesse Dayton, Ian Moore, and Johnny Moeller announce new band and album

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”, 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.

TEXAS HEADHUNTERS – TOUR DATES

with Samantha Fish’s Paper Doll World Tour

June 19    Patchogue, NY          Patchogue Theatre
June 20    Ridgefield, CT           Ridgefield Playhouse
June 21    Fall River, MA            Narrows Center For The Arts
June 22    North Truro, MA         Payomet Performing Arts Center
June 24    Albany, NY                 Empire Live
June 25    Buffalo, NY                 Asbury Hall