MJ Lenderman debuted new songs during a performance at HeAthens Homecoming. Check out the footage below.
The annual festival, hosted by Drive-By Truckers, went on this week in Athens, GA, with Lenderman appearing as a special guest on Wednesday night (February 11).
Rather than his usual live band, the Wind, he was joined on stage by Snocaps‘ bassist Brad Cook and Twin Peaks‘ Colin Croom on drums.
Together, they debuted two currently unreleased Lenderman tracks, which you can check out below.
The 11-song set also featured a slew of covers, including a version of Vic Chesnutt’s ‘Gravity Of The Situation’, Neil Young‘s ‘Separate Ways’ and Warren Zevon’s ‘Hasten Down The Wind’.
They also played Pink Floyd‘s ‘Wish You Were Here’, while Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood also made a brief, surprise appearance to play his solo track ‘Uncle Disney’ and the Drive-By Truckers song ‘Bob’.
Check out the clips and a full setlist below.
MJ Lenderman’s HeAthens Homecoming setlist was:
‘Gravity of the Situation’ (Vic Chesnutt cover)
‘Separate Ways’ (Neil Young cover)
‘Hasten Down the Wind’ (Warren Zevon cover)
Unreleased song
‘Uncle Disney’ (Patterson Hood cover with Patterson Hood)
‘Bob’ (Drive‐By Truckers cover with Patterson Hood)
‘Catholic Priest’
‘Pick Up The Pieces’
Unreleased song
‘Wish You Were Here’ (Pink Floyd cover)
‘Knockin”
Fans are now speculating if the new songs come from an upcoming album, which would serve as a follow-up to 2024’s ‘Manning Fireworks’.
The record landed a spot on NME’s 50 best albums of 2024 list, and the track ‘She’s Leaving You’ was also included in NME’s 50 best songs of 2024.
NME also gave ‘Manning Fireworks’ a four-star review, which heralded Lenderman as “Americana’s golden boy”, and read: “‘Manning Fireworks’ is an album that aches for its cast of freaks and losers, and its success in walking that line is a sign of MJ Lenderman’s richly developing voice.”
Since that LP dropped, Lenderman also joined a number of artists sharing music to help those affected by Hurricane Helene last year, worked with Nate Amos from This Is Lorelei for the song ‘Dancing In The Club’, and appeared on the new Snocaps album.
He also recently announced a co-headline North America tour with Waxahatchee, which is set to kick off in April. You can find any remaining tickets here.