Wednesday (American band)

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Wednesday
Wednesday performing at Primavera Sound 2023
Wednesday performing at Primavera Sound 2023
Background information
OriginAsheville, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres
Years active2017–present
Labels
Members
Past members
  • Daniel Gorham
  • Margo Schultz
Websitewww.wednesday.band

Wednesday is an American alternative rock band formed in Asheville, North Carolina in 2017. The band consists of Karly Hartzman (vocals, guitar), MJ Lenderman (guitar, backing vocals), Xandy Chelmis (pedal steel), Alan Miller (drums), and Ethan Baechtold (bass). The band's style has been described as a mixture of shoegaze, noise rock and alternative country, while their lyrical content has been praised for its storytelling about life in the American south.

Wednesday was formed in 2017 as a solo project of Karly Hartzman, with multi-instrumentalist Daniel Gorham joining shortly after the project's formation. The pair recorded the band's debut album, yep definitely (2018), as a duo. The band expanded to a five-piece with the addition of Miller, Chelmis and bass guitarist Margo Schultz. The band's second studio album, I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone, was released in 2020 to positive reviews, followed by Twin Plagues in 2021, which was the band's first album to feature Lenderman as a full contributing member. The band released a covers album titled Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling 'em Up in 2022. Months after the album's release, the band left its label and signed with Dead Oceans.

In 2023, Wednesday released its fifth studio album, Rat Saw God, to widespread critical acclaim. It was the band's final album with Schultz, who painted the album's cover art. She was replaced by Baechtold ahead of extensive touring commitments. Their sixth album, Bleeds, was released on September 19, 2025,[6] with Lenderman taking a step back from touring ahead of the album's release. He was replaced by Jake Pugh for the album's accompanying tour.

Career

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File:Karly-hartzmann-wednesday-pittsburgh2024.jpg
Karly Hartzman performing in Pittsburgh in January 2024.

2017–2022: Formation and early work

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Hartzman was inspired to start playing guitar after watching Mitski's NPR Tiny Desk concert. Wednesday initially began as a solo project of Hartzman's.[7] Hartzman attended college in Asheville, where she met Daniel Gorham. The two recorded an album together under the moniker Wednesday titled yep definitely.[8] The band's name was inspired by the British band The Sundays.[9] 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.[10]

Hartzman formed another band called Diva Sweetly, alongside members of the band Pictures of Vernon, which released an album in 2019.[8] 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.[11][8] 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.[12][13][10]

The group Wednesday performing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hartzman is singing, and Baechtold is playing bass guitar.
Hartzman and Baechtold playing with Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2023.

On March 11, 2022, the band released a covers album titled Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling 'em Up, featuring cover versions of songs by Gary Stewart, Chris Bell, Roger Miller, Drive-By Truckers, Hotline TNT, Greg Sage, Vic Chesnutt, Medicine and The Smashing Pumpkins.[14][15]

2022–present: Rat Saw God and Bleeds

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On September 8, 2022, the band left Orindal Records and signed to Dead Oceans, releasing the single "Bull Believer".[16] 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.[17] It was the band's final album with bass guitarist Margo Schultz, who painted the album's artwork. She was replaced by Ethan Baechtold ahead of the album's tour.

The band performed at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona on June 4, 2023, where the band, playing on the Amazon Music stage, went on an anti-Amazon speech prior to "Bull Believer" and dedicated the song to "any warehouse workers who have ever been mistreated."[18]

In March 2024, while Wednesday was touring in Tokyo, Hartzman and Lenderman broke up after six years. The two kept this hidden from the other members of the band, but it was eventually publicized in a July 2024 interview that Lenderman did with The Guardian.[19][20]

In February 2025, Lenderman announced his departure from touring with the band. He remains a full contributing member of the band in the studio.[19] Reflecting on Lenderman's decision to take a step back from touring, Hartzman stated: "Because we care about each other, it wasn’t difficult for me to accept that that’s what he needed. I know he needs that rest. He was able to say, definitively, that he’s still going to be on these records and in the band creatively, because he’s a non-negotiable part of our identity. The confidence in knowing that we’ll continue to take care of each other and nourish the parts that aren’t killing us, it’s been really nice."[21]

In May 2025, Wednesday shared a new single, "Elderberry Wine", and performed it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with Lenderman performing as a member of the band.[22] The band's sixth studio album, Bleeds, was released on September 19, 2025 to widespread critical acclaim.

For the album's accompanying tour, the band added guitarist Jake Pugh to their line-up. Reflecting on Pugh's arrival, Hartzman stated: "The chemistry of the band is obviously going to change, but he's playing the same parts, and [Lenderman's] still going to be recording with us. [...] I do sense change. The exciting part of it is that there will be new influences coming in, because Jake Pugh listens to very different music to MJ Lenderman. He makes avant garde, electronic, weirdo music, but is also a shredder on guitar. He was in this band called Nihilist Davis. [...] I'm mostly just excited about that - having a new element and knowing that MJ Lenderman will always be there to collaborate when we want to too."[23]

Musical style and influences

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Wednesday's sound has been described as country, shoegaze, and indie or alternative rock.[10][24] Hartzman said her first formative record was Reading, Writing and Arithmetic by The Sundays. After discovering the shoegaze band Swirlies, she knew she wanted to "combine The Sundays’ vocals with [Swirlies'] music and country lyrics."[25]

The band's music contains semi-autobiographical details about Hartzman's past life experiences in Greensboro. Some songs mix minor details in the environment with darker tales of drug abuse. Hartzman credits the alt-country band Drive-By Truckers as a songwriting influence, mentioning the band in the song "Bath County". According to The Ringer, the band was also influenced by "country storytellers" like Lucinda Williams and Richard Buckner.[10][24] Hartzman cites Lenderman himself as an influence, having been a fan of his solo work under the name MJ Lenderman before the two met. The pair started dating around the time of Twin Plagues, and several Wednesday songs have since made reference to their relationship,[10] though they have since split.[20]

Band members

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Current

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  • Karly Hartzman – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (2017–present)
  • Alan Miller – drums (2017–present)
  • Xandy Chelmis – pedal steel, lap steel (2020–present)
  • MJ Lenderman – lead guitar, backing vocals (2020–present; touring hiatus 2025–present)[a]
  • Ethan Baechtold – bass guitar (2023–present)

Current touring musicians

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  • Jake Pugh – lead guitar (2025–present; substitute for MJ Lenderman)

Former

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  • Daniel Gorham – lead guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, drums (2017–2019)
  • Margo Schultz – bass guitar (2020–2022)[26]

Timeline

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<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2017 till:05/11/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:2018 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:2018

Colors = 

id:lv        value:red             legend:Lead_vocals,_rhythm_guitar
id:bv        value:pink            legend:Backing_vocals
id:g         value:teal            legend:Lead_guitar
id:ps        value:green           legend:Pedal_steel,_lap_steel
id:bass      value:blue            legend:Bass
id:keyboard  value:purple          legend:Synthesizer
id:drums     value:orange          legend:Drums
id:album     value:black           legend:Studio_album
id:bars      value:gray(0.95)

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layer:back
 color:album
  at:01/31/2018
  at:02/07/2020
  at:08/13/2021
  at:03/11/2022
  at:04/07/2023
  at:09/19/2025

BarData = 

bar:Karly    text:"Karly Hartzman"
bar:Daniel   text:"Daniel Gorham"
bar:MJ       text:"MJ Lenderman"
bar:Xandy    text:"Xandy Chelmis"
bar:Margo    text:"Margo Schultz"
bar:Ethan    text:"Ethan Baechtold"
bar:Alan     text:"Alan Miller"

PlotData= 

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Karly   from:start till:end        color:lv
bar:Daniel  from:06/01/2017 till:10/01/2019 color:g
bar:Daniel  from:06/01/2017 till:10/01/2019 color:keyboard width:7
bar:Daniel  from:06/01/2017 till:09/01/2017 color:drums width:5
bar:Daniel  from:06/01/2017 till:10/01/2019 color:bass width:3
bar:MJ      from:01/01/2020 till:end   color:g
bar:MJ      from:01/01/2020 till:end   color:bv width:3
bar:Xandy   from:01/01/2020 till:end   color:ps
bar:Xandy   from:06/01/2021 till:12/01/2021 color:bv width:3
bar:Margo   from:01/01/2020 till:10/01/2022 color:bass
bar:Ethan   from:01/01/2023 till:end   color:bass
bar:Ethan   from:01/01/2025 till:end   color:keyboard width:3
bar:Alan    from:09/01/2017 till:end        color:drums

</timeline>

Discography

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Studio albums

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Title Details
Yep Definitely
  • Released: January 31, 2018
  • Label: Self-released
I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone
  • Released: February 7, 2020
  • Label: Orindal Records
Twin Plagues
  • Released: August 13, 2021
  • Label: Orindal Records
Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling 'Em Up
  • Released: March 11, 2022
  • Label: Orindal Records
Rat Saw God
  • Released: April 7, 2023
  • Label: Dead Oceans
Bleeds
  • Released: September 19, 2025
  • Label: Dead Oceans

Live albums

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Title Details
Wednesday on Audiotree Live
  • Released: September 21, 2021
  • Label: Audiotree

Extended plays

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Title Details
How Do You Let the Love Into the Heart That Isn't Split Wide Open (with MJ Lenderman)
  • Released: December 13, 2018
  • Label: Sub-Fi
Wednesday
  • Released: May 20, 2019
  • Label: Manic Static
Guttering (with MJ Lenderman)[27]
  • Released: January 22, 2021
  • Label: Super Enema

Singles

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Song Year Peak chart positions Album
US
AAA[28]
"Fate Is" / "Billboard"[29] 2019 — I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone
"November"[30] 2020 —
"Handsome Man"[31] 2021 — Twin Plagues
"Cody's Only"[32] —
"One More Last One"[33] —
"How Can You Live If You Can't Love How Can You If You Do"[34] —
"She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)"[35] 2022 — Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling 'em Up
"Feast of Snakes"[36] — Non-album single
"Bull Believer"[37] — Rat Saw God
"Chosen to Deserve"[38] 2023 —
"Elderberry Wine"[39] 2025 11 Bleeds
"Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)" —
"Pick Up That Knife" —
"Townies" 27

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Lenderman stopped touring with the band in February 2025 [5]

References

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