Y’all, it’s been a while—we missed you. The end of 2022 has been a wild ride, and herein is its final Paradisiacal dispatch. ‘Tis the season to give records to beloved friends and family (and to yourself too). In lieu of the madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we prefer to observe Krampus Day (honoring the Central European folkloric anti-Santa critter).
Features, upcoming events, and other news to catch you up on all things Terry Allen.
Rolling Stone names Terry Allen’s second album, “Lubbock (on everything),” as #58 on their new list of “The 100 Greatest Country Albums of All Time.”
Our reissues of songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen’s albums Smokin the Dummy (1980) and Bloodlines (1983), are out—shipping, in shops, and streaming—today, May 6, 2022, the day before Terry’s 79th birthday. (Today is also Bandcamp Friday, when Bandcamp waives their fee and passes on all revenues to artists and labels.) These two records comprise our sixth and seventh releases by Allen and the eagerly anticipated continuation of our acclaimed, GRAMMY-nominated archival series in collaboration with the artist. They have been very close to our hearts for twenty years; Bloodlines was the first Terry record I owned on vinyl, a gift from my friend John Ollman of the Fleisher/Ollman Galleryin Philadelphia, where Allen exhibited his artwork during the Chippy era.
We are thrilled to announce deluxe reissues of internationally celebrated songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen’s Smokin the Dummy (1980) and Bloodlines (1983), comprising our sixth and seventh releases by Allen and the eagerly anticipated continuation of our acclaimed GRAMMY-nominated archival series in collaboration with the artist.
Tonight Terry Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band return to Austin City Limits for a long-delayed celebration of their 2020 masterpiece Just Like Moby Dick. Though he’s often appeared as a guest (most recently last month—see below), this will be Allen’s first dedicated feature appearance on ACL TV since 1998 (!), and you can stream the taping live tonight, December 1, at 9pm ET.
Many thanks to John Lingan for writing a moving, fine-grained profile of Terry Allen and Jo Harvey Allen for the the Washington Post Magazine. Thanks also to the New York Times’ T: The Style Magazine for highlighting Moby Dick. Plus, watch Terry perform a rare, intimate house show produced by The Florida Room and premiered by the Wire and hear the Panhandle Mystery Band’s live session on KUTX.
Following a sold-out release concert at Austin’s historic Paramount Theatre (hello, Houdini Hole), and already sailing forth into an armada of critical acclaim, Terry Allen today releases his magisterial new record Just Like Moby Dick into the deep blue sea. Order it from us, or find it in your favorite ship-shop or ocean stream. See you at the GRAMMYs.
Featuring backing vocals by Moby Dick secret weapon Shannon McNally, “Abandonitis” is a dusty and doomed Tex-Mex shuffle, while “All That’s Left is Fare-Thee-Well” delivers one of the most penetrating moments on the album, with Allen, McNally, and co-producer Charlie Sexton trading vocals. Both songs are, appropriately, about leaving and being left behind. Plus, more shows announced, including New York!
What a surprise to wake up to our first Grammy nomination, for our own Brendan Greaves’s exhaustive book accompanying Terry Allen’s collection of radio plays and long-form narrative audio works.
