Jeff Klein’s East Fourth recording studio was burglarized last month. According to the My Jerusalem singer, 22 guitars belonging to him and fellow Austin artists Walker Lukens and Grant Eppley – “many of them quirky and irreplaceable with sentimental value,” he wrote on Instagram – were taken, including a red, early Nineties Rickenbacker 360, a white, 1970s Burns Baldwin Jazz Split Sound, a 2015 Fender American Performer Precision Bass, a 1995 Jerry Jones Shorthorn Black, and a 2002 red Starburst Rickenbacker 360/12 string. The producers are asking the public to keep an eye out for the gear at pawn shops and other online listings.
MJ Lenderman played a sold-out show at Emo’s Feb. 6, proving once and for all why the alt-country twang of his latest solo venture Manning Fireworks topped so many Best Albums of 2024 lists. Though the Wednesday guitarist revealed early on that he was recovering from some bad oysters he ate in New Orleans two nights prior, he still led his five-piece band through a seamless, 20-song set, blending his grungy guitar and J Mascis drawl with Jon Samuels’ twangy six string accents and Xandy Chelmis’ fiddle and pedal steel. “If you’re gonna play in Texas,” Lenderman nodded, after his bandmate bowed his strings – in the crook of his arm, not on his shoulder – in “Rip Torn.” Known for his wry, referential lyricism, the 26-year-old inspired many a crowd singalong, from his iconic “I got a houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome” line in “Wristwatch” to “There’s milkshakes and there’s smoothies” in “Rip Torn,” which the audience sang so solemnly it felt profound. “We mighta got sick on oysters, but it was worth it for all the pearls sitting in this room,” bassist Landon George declared.
This article appears in February 7 • 2025.
