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MJ Lenderman

MJ Lenderman

Perfect (Smashing Pumpkins)

Slacker-country songwriting for the bruised and self-aware: MJ Lenderman turns dead-end guys and busted egos into some of the sharpest indie rock of the decade.

APPLE MUSIC

Perfect (Smashing Pumpkins)

MJ Lenderman

LIVE SESSION · KEXP

MJ Lenderman - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

About

MOODS · wry · slack-jawed · heartsick · dryly funny · road-worn · guitar-driven · introspective · alt-country tinged · self-deprecating · bruised

BIOGRAPHY

MJ Lenderman (Mark Jacob Lenderman, born February 4, 1999, in Asheville, North Carolina) is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist working in indie rock and alternative country. He grew up in a musical family, began playing guitar around age seven or eight, and started posting songs to Bandcamp in high school before briefly attending UNC Asheville. Alongside his solo work he plays in the band Wednesday, with whom he has released four studio albums, including Twin Plagues, Rat Saw God, and Bleeds. His solo breakthrough came with 2022's Boat Songs, followed by 2024's widely acclaimed Manning Fireworks. He has also contributed guitar and vocals to Waxahatchee's Tiger's Blood and joined the surprise band Snocaps in 2025.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Lenderman's rise has been well documented by outlets like Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian, who praised Manning Fireworks as a defining record of broken-hearted, self-deprecating storytelling; The New Yorker even named it the top album of 2024. Boat Songs earlier established him as a Gen Z heir to 1990s slacker-grunge and alt-country traditions. He's also a working collaborator, appearing on Waxahatchee's Tiger's Blood and forming the band Snocaps with Katie and Allison Crutchfield, showing a musician equally at home fronting his own songs and elevating others'.

ON WOKE-1

Played 5 times on WOKE-1.

LIVE SESSIONS