Counting Crows’ 1996 power ballad “A Long December” has emerged as a depressive lighters-up standard. In recent years, a bunch of people have covered “A Long December”: The Hold Steady, Oceanator, Knifeplay. Earlier this year, Noah Kahan sang it with lead Counting Crow Adam Duritz. And over past week, the two leaders of Wendesday added their own “A Long December” covers to the list.

Recently, Wednesday guitar hero MJ Lenderman and his band the Wind (which includes Wednesday’s Xandy Chelmis) have been touring behind Manning Fireworks, one of our favorite albums of the year. This past fall, Hurricane Helene swept through Lenderman and his band’s Asheville, North Carolina home base, leaving the city and the surrounding area devastated. It really has been a long December, and a longer November, for people around Asheville. Lenderman had to postpone some tour dates, including hometown gigs at the Orange Peel. He played both shows this past weekend, and he played his version of “A Long December” during his encores on Friday night. Watch fan footage below.

As it happens, a couple of Lenderman and Chelmis’ Wednesday bandmates also covered “A Long December” in a different North Carolina city a few nights beforehand. Last Tuesday, Wednesday leader (and Lenderman’s ex) Karly Hartzman and bassist Ethan Baechtold tried their own cover of “A Long December” at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro. Their version was a lot more stripped-down, and it hit some different emotional notes. So: coincidence? Or is there a Wednesday band group chat where everyone’s been comparing “Long December” covers? Watch the Hartzman/Baechtold version below.