MJ Lenderman | Artist
Mark Jacob "MJ" Lenderman is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born 1999 in Asheville, North Carolina. Lenderman melds indie folk, roots rock, and skronky guitars with tunes that deal with random details of everyday lives, both past and present. Lenderman had already developed a solid reputation as a sideman - playing drums behind Asheville songwriter Indigo de Souza and handling lead guitar for indie rockers Wednesday - when he released his eponymous debut solo album in 2019. Lenerman was raised Catholic and was an altar boy. Growing up, he played basketball and obsessively watched tapes of Michael Jordan. His early musical influences were Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, and Jason Molina aka Songs: Ohia. In his junior and senior years of high school, he began posting his music to Bandcamp. In 2018, Lenderman played the drums for fellow Asheville artist Indigo De Souza on her albums I Love My Mom and Any Shape You Take. Lenderman met Karly Hartzman, lead singer for the group Wednesday, and he joined the band for an EP called How Do You Let Love Into the Heart That Isn't Split Wide Open (2018). In July 2019, he released a self-titled album, his first solo album. At that time, he was working in an ice cream shop to support himself financially. Lenderman toured with Wednesday in early February 2020, until the COVID-19 pandemic ended the tour. While unemployed, Lenderman wrote the songs that became the album Ghost of Your Guitar Solo, released in 2021. His third album Boat Songs was released in 2022 on Dear Life Records. It was listed as one of the best albums of 2022 by Pitchfork, The A.V. Club, and The Ringer. After the album's success, Lenderman signed a recording contract with Anti records and released the singles "Rudolph" and "Knockin'". Lenderman also contributed guitar and vocals to the album Tiger's Blood by Waxahatchee, released in March 2024, and was listed as featured guest artist on the album's lead single, "Right Back To It". In March 2024, Lenderman performed "Right Back To It" with Waxahatchee on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. His next album, Manning Fireworks, released in September 2024, attracted strong reviews, drawing positive comparisons with the music of artists such as Songs: Ohia, Silver Jews, and Ryan Adams. Interview magazine went so far as to call him "the poet laureate of Indie Rock". To-date, Lenderman's standout albums include MJ Lenderman (2019), Boat Songs (2022), Manning Fireworks (2024), and the live album And the Wind (Live and Loose!) (2023). Lenderman grew up with "musicheads" as parents. The first band they took him to see was the garage rock combo The Dandy Warhols. At some point, it became a Lenderman Thanksgiving tradition to watch The Last Waltz, The Band’s famous ’70s concert film, together. Further back, Lenderman's great-grandfather was saxophonist Charlie Ventura, who was a successful big-band leader in the 1940's, working with Gene Krupa and comedian Jackie Gleason.
Artist Website: mjlenderman.bandcamp.com
Featured Albums: MJ Lenderman
Related Artists: Wednesday
