3 Songs That Show Wednesday Embracing Their Roots

Wednesday formed in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2017. Blending indie rock, shoegaze, and Americana, the band is led by Karly Hartzman, who often writes about her Greensboro, North Carolina, home. She’s backed by lap and pedal steel virtuoso Xandy Chelmis, bassist Ethan Baechtold, and drummer Alan Miller. Guitarist MJ Lenderman has been a longtime collaborator as well, but no longer tours with the band as his solo career has bloomed.

So while Wednesday reassures us that indie rock’s future is in good hands, let’s look at three songs where the group embraces its roots.

“Elderberry Wine”

Hartzman uses elderberry as a metaphor for nurturing life’s sweetest things. Any relationship—family, professional, romantic—can become toxic if not cultivated with care and constant attention. There’s a sense of nostalgia around Hartzman’s rootsy chords, which feel aching, remote, and somehow connected. “And the pink boiled eggs stay afloat in the brine / ’Cause even the best champagne still tastes like elderberry wine,” she sings wistfully in the chorus. This is a story of colliding lives and trying to get the mixture just right.

“Townies”

Another track from the band’s 2025 release, Bleeds, “Townies” describes the small-town characters who never leave. Hartzman zooms in on a 16-year-old girl who fools around in the backseat of a car and becomes branded by gossip, reputation, and consequence. Before that, Hartzman tells the story of a fling who shared nude pics of her, but he ends up dead before she has the chance to scream at him. The wall of fuzz feels like the confused feelings of being trapped where you’re born, yet knowing there’s no place you’d rather be.

“Quarry”

From Rat Saw God, Hartzman blends fictional characters and places with childhood memories. A bitter old woman still finds enough joy to dole out full-size candy bars on Halloween, and later a married couple fights in their front yard wearing only underwear. It’s the chaos of communities rambling through their lives. “We had to add it to the tab / To die, we’d have to settle up,” she sings about life’s emotional bills and the receipts that always come due. Moving between fact and fiction, Hartzman shows the messiness that family, friends, and neighbors all share. If you can survive long enough to tell the story, that’s a win.

Photo by James Klug/Getty Images