WEDNESDAY- Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling 'em Up

WEDNESDAY- Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling 'em Up ORD-65

Want an "It's Available!" Email Notification?

Cassette & digital release date: March 11, 2022
Vinyl release date: March 3, 2023

Wednesday owes so much to our musical influences. The music we love is a big part of what brought us together. My bandmates Margo and Xandy both had infamous Asheville house show venues, Jake was in like a billion different bands which often played in their muggy basements and Alan was usually the one who brought the PA. Our immersion in music predated us trying to make songs together ourselves.

Our common interests in noisey ‘90s guitars, good lyrics, and country music was quickly what permeated into our voice as a band. Most decisions in our songs are made by an amalgamation of all five of our inputs, which happens pretty naturally because of this thread of influences that ties us together.

So when we got an opportunity for some recording time with Alli Rogers at Betty’s studio in Durham, NC we decided to record covers, and hopefully repay in part the huge debt we are in to the artists who contributed so much to the music we write ourselves.

When I was thinking if there was anything that these songs have in common, the main thing I found recurring was the combination of sadness and humor. It’s effective as hell to combine the two emotions, making each other more intense by the contrast. Some of the masters of this included on this album of course are: Roger Miller, Vic Chesnutt, Gary Stewart and Drive-By Truckers.

Sonically, Medicine opened a world of sound to me: a soft voice paired with unrelenting industrial noise. And if you listen to Wednesday’s original music it goes without saying that the Pumpkins discography (at least ‘til 1998) is a sound we reference often and tether ourselves to.

Chris Bell is the master of the perfect musical “moment”. There are few lines in any song that hit me as hard as:

“Just when I was starting to feel okay, you’re on the phone. I never wanna be alone”

I mean… c'mon!!

There’s just one cover from a band we are lucky to call our peers and for the record I just wanna say Hotline TNT is one of the best bands out there. We stayed real true to the original song for that one… cause it’s pretty perfect as-is.

The later half of the album is songs recorded with my partner and frequent collaborator MJ Lenderman (the thing is… I love him!!) His music is probably my biggest influence out of anyone and I owe him a lot a lot a lot.

Anyways, if for whatever reason you're reading this and haven’t heard the original songs, I encourage you to look ‘em up! We tried our best to pay our respects but at the end of the day you can’t exactly replicate the magic of any of these tracks.

Making music (and hopefully living off it sometime soon) has been a dream come true for us. So thank you a million times to all the artists that paved the way for us…. Music rocks!!! Wow!!!

-Karly Hartzman

Tracks

She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles) [Gary Stewart] (4:07)
I Am The Cosmos (ft. Zach Romeo) [Chris Bell] (4:55)
Lock, Stock and Teardrops [Roger Miller] (2:37)
Women Without Whiskey [Drive-By Truckers] (4:41)
Had 2 Try (ft. MJ Lenderman) [Hotline TNT] (3:13)
Sacrifice (For Love) (ft. MJ Lenderman) [Greg Sage] (3:57)
Rabbit Box (ft. MJ Lenderman) [Vic Chesnutt] (2:16)
Time Baby II (ft. MJ Lenderman) [Medicine] (3:38)
Perfect (ft. MJ Lenderman) [Smashing Pumpkins] (4:02)

Credits

Vox, guitar & flute by Karly Hartzman
Vox & guitar by MJ Lenderman
Lap Steel by Xandy Chelmis
Bass by Margo Schultz
Drums by Alan Miller
Vox on 1 by Zach Romeo

Cover art by Cameron Heavener

1. She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)
Written by Wayne Carson Thompson
Copyright Bike Music o/b/o Lovolar Music

2. I Am The Cosmos
Written by Chris Bell
Copyright Ardent Music LLC o/b/o Koala Music

3. Lock Stock and Teardrops
Written by Roger Miller
Copyright Sony/ATV Tree Publishing

4. Women Without Whiskey
Written by John Michael Cooley
Copyright Hipgnosis International o/b/o Wayward Johnson Music

5. Had 2 Try
Written by Will Anderson
Copyright Will Anderson

6. Sacrifice (For Love)
Written by Greg Sage
Copyright BMG Bumblebee

7. Rabbit Box
Written by Vic Chesnutt
Copyright BMG Bumblebee o/b/o Ghetto Bells Music

8. Time Baby II
Written by Jim Putnam, Brad Laner, Elizabeth Anne Thompson, Jim Goodall, and Ed Ruscha
Copyright BMG Platinum Songs o/b/o Rosetta Vm Pka Virgin Music

9. Perfect
Written by William Corgan
Copyright Cinderful Music c/o Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.

Pressing Information

Tape edition:

First printing:
250 Professionally dubbed Super Ferric tapes in clear shells imprinted with gold metallic ink. Tapes are packaged in full color photo J-cards & clear Norelco boxes. 9 tracks, 33 minutes. SOLD OUT

Second printing:
150 Professionally dubbed Super Ferric tapes in yellow-tinted shells imprinted with gold metallic ink. Tapes are packaged in full color photo J-cards & clear Norelco boxes. 9 tracks, 33 minutes. SOLD OUT

Third printing:
150 Professionally dubbed Super Ferric tapes in yellow-tinted shells imprinted with gold metallic ink. Tapes are packaged in full color photo J-cards & clear Norelco boxes. 9 tracks, 33 minutes. SOLD OUT

Fourth printing:
50 Professionally dubbed Super Ferric tapes in clear shells imprinted with gold metallic ink. Tapes are packaged in full color photo J-cards & clear Norelco boxes. 9 tracks, 33 minutes.

Vinyl edition:
160 gram vinyl LPs with full color labels in poly-lined innersleeves & extra heavyweight photo jackets, plus double-sided, full color, 11x11 mini-poster inserts. 9 tracks, 33 minutes.

First vinyl pressing:
600 copies on translucent "pilsner" yellow vinyl
400 copies on classic black vinyl

Second vinyl pressing:
1000 copies on translucent "pilsner" yellow vinyl

Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling 'em Up vinyl is distributed by The Business & Revolver / Midheaven.