A pedal steel guitar is weeping in one corner of the stage, comforted by a keyboard countermelody coming from the opposite end. Centre stage is up-and-coming guitarist of the moment MJ Lenderman, a study in slackerish nonc muels freewheels by his side, flinging lots of hair around.
This modern-day, if sepia-tinted tableau of southern-inflected rock is instantly familiar in that it recalls umpteen country-rock acts, not least Athens, Georgia cult heroes the Drive-By Truckers. Lenderman’s guitar work and reedy, laconic delivery, meanwhile, can lay claim to several fathers (Will Oldham, Stephen Malkmus) but ultimately sits at the feet of Neil Young. On My Knees, from Lenderman’s most recent album, Manning Fireworks, is just one of many tracks that could be bagged as evidence.
