Spotlight: MJ Lenderman

Mike Greenhaus on January 29, 2025
Spotlight: MJ Lenderman

Photo: Karly Hartzman

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MJ Lenderman was having a well-deserved moment when the unthinkable happened.

“We did Fallon on Wednesday, flew back home on Thursday and Friday was the storm,” the 25-year-old, Asheville, N.C. bred singer/guitarist says of his whereabouts when Hurricane Helene hit his hometown. “It’s pretty crazy—a lot of the city is unrecognizable.”

Until that fall day, things had been going quite well for Lenderman and his touring band, The Wind. In September, the guitarist released his full length studio debut for veteran tastemakers Anti-, Manning Fireworks, which helped position him as one of the indie world’s most promising voices.

Lenderman’s slacker-rock vibe and choice, witty lyrics at times recall a more country leaning version of Pavement, while his guitar heroics channel longtime inspirations Neil Young and Dinosaur Jr. Following a few LPs on underground favorites Dear Life Records, he signed with Anti-, who issued the 15-track concert recording And the Wind (Live and Loose!) in 2023. The Wind started to advance to larger clubs across the country and, concurrently, his other band Wednesday—the more punky project founded by his now-former girlfriend Karly Hartzman—was becoming an alt-rock favorite. But then Hurricane Helene made landfall, and Lenderman was forced to pull a few dates and recalibrate.

“We’re still processing it,” he says, while checking in from the road once his tour resumed and after he lent his services to Cardinals at the Window, an all-star set benefiting storm relief efforts in Western North Carolina. “Thankfully, my family and my friends are all safe, and we were lucky enough to be able to get out of town.”

Lenderman crafted Manning Fireworks at Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios with producer Alex Farrar, who had previously worked with the rising star as part of Wednesday. Most of The Wind, as well as other members of the guitarist’s local community, contributed to the sessions, which emphasized the collective nature of Lenderman’s musical network. However, he describes the creative process as more siloed than in years past, resulting in perhaps his most sincere set of songs yet.

“It’s reflective of my mood at the time and the writing process was a little more solitary,” he says. “In a lot of situations, my songs have stemmed out of more of a party atmosphere, jamming with [The Wind’s] Colin Miller, who I lived with, or Lewis Dahm, my other roommate. With this record, I was just on my own for the most part. It was what the circumstances allowed at the time, being on the road a lot and trying to do different things when I was at home.”

The set climaxes with “Bark of the Moon,” a 10-minute feedback assault that would make Crazy Horse proud. Lenderman is also quick to name-check fellow jammy, Southern-rock road warriors Drive-By Truckers as a major influence, especially in the live setting.

“I learned that they never use a setlist, and that’s something that I’ve done with my band for a long time. I feel like it really opens us up to a lot of different opportunities for the show. It’s cool to be able to react to the audience and control the vibe of the room. It keeps the show fun and fresh every night. And, sonically, they’re a big influence as well.” (Speaking of musical name-checks, when asked about the origins of the 2021 song “Phish Pepsi,” which was credited to MJ Lenderman & Wednesday when the latter band was more of Hartzman’s solo vehicle, he says, “Karly wrote that one. I’ve never seen them but she did watch a Phish concert, I think it was a stream, and that song, in particular, is a lot of true stories.”)

On stage, The Wind has also grown into an ace live act. The project currently features Miller on drums, Landon George on bass, Wednesday’s Xandy Chelmis on pedal steel guitar and Lenderman’s childhood pal Ethan Baechtold on keys. Jon Samuels—whose freak-country outfit Friendship founded Dear Life Records— also plays guitar. The ensemble has supported Lenderman’s songs in different ways—a few members have even swapped instruments depending on what is needed—again highlighting their collective ethos.

In terms of balancing his solo work and commitments to Wednesday, who released the shoegaze-indebted Dead Oceans set Rat Saw God last year, Lenderman is making it all work.

“So far, it’s just been about going into a year and being aware,” he says. “Last year, I knew Wednesday was releasing a record so I knew we’d be spending a lot more time on that. Whenever I had time off from the road, I tried to write and I eventually finished the record. And, now, Wednesday is probably not gonna play for a while because my band has a lot of overlap, and it’s my turn to do a record cycle. So that’s the balance.”

Lenderman was also recently featured on Waxahatchee’s 2024 single “Right Back to It” and has joined Katie Crutchfield on stage at a few marquee shows. And when it came time to play Fallon, Lenderman turned the promo spot into a family reunion.

“I wanted to just do our best to perform as we normally would at one of our own shows, but it’s a totally different environment on a TV show with cameras and stuff,” he says. “So I had pretty much everyone in the normal band there and Karly singing harmonies. The booking came in last minute, three or four days before we had to do it. Landon had a gig and couldn’t make it, so we had Brad Cook come and play bass. He and a few friends had backed me up at AmericanaFest in Nashville the week before, so the songs were fresh on his mind already.”