Last year, Haw Creek, a picturesque mountain valley in Asheville, North Carolina, which had been a refuge for the region's emerging musical talent, faced significant challenges. Increasing housing prices and new developments began to displace the artists who had long thrived in this creative community. Among these artists was Karly Hartzman, the lead vocalist of Wednesday, who would relocate to Greensboro, nearly two hundred miles east.
“I’ve only lived in two places, Greensboro and Asheville,” Hartzman shares with me. “I primarily write about these two locations throughout different times in my life. The consistency in where I've lived has created a timeline I navigate through. My parents still reside in the house where I grew up, so I can lie in my bedroom and transport myself back to my high school years. Being there evokes so many memories. That’s both the exciting part and the challenging aspect of staying in your hometown. It triggers a lot of recollections.”
Though we are seated in the lobby café of a hotel in East London, the day after her solo show at Rough Trade, Hartzman’s thoughts of home resonate more strongly than ever. Her vivid depictions of small-town life as a fellow North Carolinian strike a chord. “My music is for North Carolinians,” Hartzman expresses firmly. “If others enjoy it, that's great, but it mainly caters to the people I share that community with.” In a state often simplified by cultural clichés and political jokes, Hartzman's dedication to making music for her community redefines Southern identity, presenting personal, intricate narratives that avoid caricatures. She acknowledges the coexistence of both beauty and despair in her stories, along with their unexpected capacity to resonate with audiences beyond the Southeastern region.
“Even when writing about a very specific place, everyone involved is human,” Hartzman elaborates. “I’m not striving for universality. I focus on a specific, narrow concept. However, the themes I explore—pain, death, violence, love—are universal. Ironically, the more specific you become, the more relatable it is, because people are familiar with these significant themes. Everyone grapples with these emotions. Writing truthfully is the most effective way for people to connect with you. Truth resonates with people.”
This idea serves not only as a theme in ‘Bleeds,’ Wednesday’s latest album, but also as a common thread throughout a substantial body of work they’ve developed over the years. Hartzman originally started Wednesday as a solo project in 2017. By 2020, the project expanded to include Xandy Chelmis (lap steel/pedal steel), Alan Miller (drums), and Jake “MJ” Lenderman (guitar), later adding Ethan Baechtold (bass/piano) to form the current band lineup. She has described ‘Bleeds’ as the “quintessential Wednesday Creek Rock album” and a “spiritual successor” to their 2023 release, ‘Rat Saw God,’ which has been lauded as their best work to date.
While ‘Bleeds’ sees Wednesday fully realizing their potential, it was also shaped by a period of fracture and change. In addition to leaving Haw Creek, Hartzman and Lenderman—who were both bandmates and in a romantic relationship—ended their romance just before recording ‘Bleeds.’ This information was kept from the rest of the band until after the album was completed, to maintain the harmony they had diligently cultivated.
“Many of the songs were written when Jake and I were still together, and then recorded shortly after we broke up,” Hartzman explains. “So, for tracks like ‘The Way Love Goes’ and ‘Elderberry Wine,’ I was performing love songs for Jake after our split. While recording, if I don’t feel connected to the lyrics, I try to embrace that emotion just as I would during a live performance. It’s important that the final recording reflects that raw feeling. Sometimes, it feels like I'm acting.”
Despite keeping their breakup confidential, Hartzman realizes that moments within the songs subconsciously expressed her true feelings. “Recording ‘Elderberry Wine’ post-breakup… it's an upbeat song. At least, I think it sounds upbeat. However, when I listen to it now, I hear hints of an impending breakup, even before I was fully aware of it.”
Hartzman’s talent for distilling truth from complex emotional landscapes and transforming it into compelling, diary-like reflections stems from her manner of engaging with the world around her. In ‘Elderberry Wine,’ she sings, “Angel hum of an electric car/Reverse towards me/Sometimes in my head I give up/And flip the board completely,” with a sweet cadence that veils her underlying contemplation of mortality and, on some level, boredom. “That happened in a Harris Teeter parking lot in Greensboro,” she recounts. “But there’s a universal feeling of a car
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Last year, Haw Creek — a picturesque mountain valley in Asheville, North Carolina, that acted as a refuge for the area's growing musical talent — was