And they’re funny! He has a penchant for writing about athletes. They sound like a buddy spinning a yarn on his porch, feel like someone handing you a beer at a barbecue. But his appeal lies in the easygoing charm of his songs. are clear influences, as are the southern vibes and storytelling of Drive-By Truckers. Lenderman’s music is steeped in the sound of the 90s-Guided By Voices and Dinosaur, Jr.

Along the way, he’s played with Waxahatchee and Indigo de Souza and become a ubiquitous it-kid of the indie rock scene. In 2022 he released an acclaimed record of scuzzy, alt-country still lifes called Boat Songs, and this year he’s been focusing on Wednesday’s equally acclaimed album Rat Saw God.

He’s back in town for a blink after a long touring season and a whirlwind year pulling double duty as both a solo artist and the guitarist in Hartzman’s band. Lenderman likes to work on new material at home (“It’s hard to write in the van, it’s bumpy”), and these days his window of opportunity is small. The room is cluttered with microphones and instruments-it’s a place where things get done. “Do you want to see it?” he asks, and pans his camera around. Now he lives in a bungalow next to the main house with his girlfriend Karly Hartzman, leader of the rock band Wednesday. It’s a house-or pair of houses, actually-where the musician and his bandmates have been living, writing, and recording since 2017, when he moved in with his drummer to make an album. MJ Lenderman Zooms in from the spot in Asheville where everything started and it all still happens.

Black mamba song