Wednesday

Wednesday is an American rock band from Asheville, North Carolina, currently signed to Dead Oceans. The band consists of vocalist Karly Hartzman, guitarist Jake Lenderman (aka MJ Lenderman), lap steel player Xandy Chelmis, drummer Alan Miller and bassist Ethan Baechtold. Wednesday was formed in 2017 as Karly Hartzman's personal songwriting project. Career Hartzman was inspired to start playing guitar after watching Mitski's NPR Tiny Desk concert. Hartzman attended college in Asheville, where she met Daniel Gorham. The two recorded an album together under the moniker Wednesday titled yep definitely. The band's name was inspired by the British band The Sundays. In 2017, Hartzman met Lenderman after he slept over at Hartzman's family home after a show. Lenderman would join Wednesday in 2018 for an EP called How Do You Let Love Into the Heart That Isn’t Split Wide Open. Hartzman formed another band called Diva Sweetly, alongside members of the band Pictures of Vernon, which released an album in 2019. However, Hartzman was interested in making music that was closer to shoegaze, a departure from the style of Diva Sweetly. After Gorham left the band to work on other musical projects, Hartzman gathered new members from the local music scene in Asheville to join Wednesday. The group released their second album, titled I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone in 2020. The group released their third record, Twin Plagues, on August 13, 2021. Twin Plagues is the first Wednesday album with Lenderman as a full member of the band. On March 11, 2022, the band released a covers album titled Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling 'em Up, featuring covers versions of songs by Gary Stewart, Chris Bell, Roger Miller, Drive-By Truckers, Hotline TNT, Greg Sage, Vic Chesnutt, Medicine and The Smashing Pumpkins. On September 8, 2022, the band left Orindal Records and signed to Dead Oceans, releasing the single "Bull Believer". On January 18, 2023, the band released the single "Chosen to Deserve" and announced a fifth album, Rat Saw God, which was released on April 7, 2023.