Wednesday

Wednesday formed in Asheville, North Carolina, led by Karly Hartzman's unflinching storytelling and a sound that braids shoegaze volume with country instrumentation. Xandy Chelmis' lap and pedal steel guitar weaves through walls of distortion, creating a juxtaposition that defines the band's identity — rural twang submerged in urban noise. Drummer Alan Miller and bassist Ethan Baechtold provide a rhythm section that can pivot from delicate fingerpicking passages to full-bore feedback assaults. Their 2023 album Rat Saw God earned widespread critical acclaim, with Hartzman's narratives of small-town Southern life delivered over arrangements that owe as much to My Bloody Valentine as to classic country. The band's live shows are marked by extreme dynamic shifts, moving from near-silence to overwhelming volume within a single song. Hartzman's use of a Harmony Bobkat and Fender Jazzmaster through a Fender Hot Rod DeVille amp gives Wednesday a tonal palette rarely heard in shoegaze, while the Death By Audio Interstellar Overdriver pedal provides their signature blown-out distortion.