[Cover photo of Blood Sucking Maniacs, credit to Barbara FG]

Terry Allen and Jo Harvey Allen, along with their children and grandchildren, have released “Down to the River,” the second song made available from the self-titled debut album of their new project, Blood Sucking Maniacs. This is a multigenerational family band, and their album is out on April 24th, 2026 via Paradise of Bachelors.

“Down to the River” features a duet between Jo Harvey’s and Terry, and is a song that’s “a paean to their love of, and through, travel and the record’s spiritual centerpiece.” It conjures up poetic imagery of the Bay of Bengal.

A Release Show for the album is set for May 21st in Austin, TX at The Paramount Theatre. The Allens will also perform two nights, in different configurations, at Big Ears in Knoxville, TN, with the Truckload of Art Road Show (an intimate book reading/signing, concert, and discussion/Q&A) on March 26th and with the full Panhandle Mystery Band on March 27th.

Blood Sucking Maniacs, helmed by patriarch and matriarch Terry Allen and Jo Harvey Allen, spans five generations and 121 years, including (among others) their sons Bukka and Bale Allen; grandsons Kru, Sled, and Calder Allen; Panhandle Mystery Band mainstays Charlie Sexton, Lloyd Maines, and Richard Bowden, and frequent collaborator Will Sexton.

BLOOD SUCKING MANIACS are …

The Allen Family
Pauline Allen: piano
Terry Allen: keyboard, piano, vocals
Jo Harvey Allen: vocals
Bukka Allen: keyboards, accordion, B-3 organ, vocals
Kru Allen: piano, accordion, vocals
Bale Allen: drums, vocals
Sled Allen: drums, vocals
Sophie Allen: Session Momma
Lucky Marlo Allen: heartbeat

Calder Allen: guitars, vocals

Blood Brothers
Lloyd Maines: steel guitar, dobro
Richard Bowden: violin, mandolin

Bastard Children
Charlie Sexton: guitars
Will Sexton: guitars, bass

Additional Maniacs
Barbara FG: bass, vocals
John Michael Schoepf: bass