In August 2022, Allison Crutchfield, an A&R executive at ANTI- Records, traveled to Asheville, NC, on a mission to sign the up-and-coming singer-songwriter known as MJ Lenderman. By the end of the year, Crutchfield had succeeded—and had also joined his inner circle of friends.
“I've never had a meeting with an artist where they've said, 'Just come and we'll have a barbecue, we'll just drink beer and eat,'” recalls Crutchfield, who met Lederman at the property where he lived with several others, including members of the up-and-coming alt-country group Wednesday.
At the time, Lenderman had just released his breakthrough album, Songs about the boata collection of detailed vignettes on obscure country-rock riffs, on the indie label Dear Life Records. And the 25-year-old hasn't slowed down since: In late 2023, Lenderman debuted ANTI- with his acclaimed live album Alive and relaxed!; In early 2024, he hit the road with Wednesday, for whom he sings and plays guitar. and in March, Waxahatchee (opposite Crutchfield's twin sister Katie) released her acclaimed album Tigers Bloodfor which she invited Lederman into her small creative circle. Lederman did his thing Bulletin board chart debut on Adult Alternative Airplay with his feature on the set's aching single, “Right Back to It,” and performed it with Waxahatchee on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
As Lederman's profile grew, he assembled Manning fireworkswhich is scheduled for release on September 6th and his first studio album for ANTI-. “It's been kind of weird,” he says when reflecting on the whirlwind of becoming one of indie rock's most heralded new artists. “I guess it was more of an obstacle to making the new record — just trying to figure out how to not think about that and make a record like I would before.”
For Lederman, that wasn't long ago. A music-loving child — “My dad was a Deadhead,” he says, detailing the Derek Trucks and Gov't Mule shows he saw as a kid growing up in Asheville — Lenderman started playing guitar in first grade and eventually turned to indie and punk music as a teenager he played in bands around his town. He soon started recording and the pandemic gave him more time to complete in 2021 The Ghost of Your Guitar Solo and finally Songs about the boat.
When Lederman's manager, Rusty Sutton, spent a Songs about the boat promo for Crutchfield, he knew he had to sign him “probably 10 seconds” into his opening song. “In a medium like indie rock,” he explains, “where there's really so much you can do, for someone to do something where they honor the tradition of that kind of music, but do it in a way that feels completely refreshing and like something that we haven't heard of, it's really exciting.”
Lenderman is heavily influenced by Neil Young – “I can trace most of the bands I like to Neil,” he says, referencing the rock legend's crazy mid-'70s phase – and also counts the Drive-By Truckers, Dinosaur Jr. and Will Oldham as key tests. But his music has connected with younger audiences thanks to its modern sensibility and the way it veers from absurdist humor to deep, sometimes dark, depth. (A new song, “Wristwatch,” is an ode to loneliness where the narrator notes that he “has a houseboat docked at Himbo Dome.”)
“Obviously, my real life will bleed through a little bit, but I'm trying to keep it more of a third-person perspective,” she says. “I feel like that opens up more possibilities—and it's kind of more fun to write fiction.”
For Manning Fireworksrecorded whenever he could find time between tours, Lenderman took a familiar approach, reconnecting with producer Alex Farrar at Asheville's Drop of Sun Studios, where he's recorded tracks several times before. But the album, which expands Lenderman's country-rock creative palette without losing his signature wit or intimacy, is far from redux.
“I want my records to be dynamic,” says Lenderman. “For a while, I was trying to pick it up and go harder or faster or something – and then it wasn't where I was. So I decided to go in the opposite direction and make it more acoustic and quieter.”
On Manning fireworksLenderman does a bit of both. The music has never sounded richer, with violin and brass augmenting his guitar, but he also explores the other side, as on album closer “Bark at the Sun,” which ends Manning Fireworks with multi-minute noise driven by 'drone of bass clarinet abuse'. While Lenderman “couldn't tell you why” he made the creative choice — “it just felt right” — it's indicative of his growth. “There is a level of confidence [him] at this point that feels different from Songs about the boatsays Crutchfield. “This is a person who is incredibly talented and now he understands how to handle it.”
Not that the eternally nonchalant Lederman would ever describe his intuitive choices so grandly.
This story appears in the August 24, 2024 issue Bulletin board.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/mj-lenderman-new-album-manning-fireworks-interview-1235761024/