Vintage country from Los Angeles

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

By Aaron Davis

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-A swarm of press releases came through the inbox for shows this week, and per usual, I checked out each band whether I had heard of them or not. Leslie Stevens and The Badgers was fresh to my ears, but turned out to be another great discovery making their first visit to the valley.

As their country-folk-roots-rock came through the speakers — topped with Stevens’s patient Missouri drawl — I would have never guessed they are based in L.A. Their latest release, Roomful of Smoke, has such a genuine, rootsy quality in relation to atmosphere and presence that I had to dig deeper.

“I think people sometimes write us off because we’re from L.A.,” Stevens said. “There’s a transient nature to L.A., so we’re all from different places. I didn’t come here and consciously want to become a singer … I just began to take the writing more seriously and started performing.”

Produced by Grammy-winner David Bianco (Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Tift Merrit), Roomful of Smoke reaches a special tier in today’s washed out country machine. Through subtle production, quality songwriting and great instrumentation, it’s easily understood why Nashville label Thirty Tigers is set to re-release the disc on a national scale on August 17.

“To get to work with David was a nerve-racking big deal,” Stevens admitted.
Though often compared to Emmylou Harris’s timbre, Stevens’s voice reminds me of another young Thirty Tigers artist — Elizabeth Cook.  Her upbringing included watching episodes of “Hee Haw,” and she first played in a punk band, eventually being drawn to country and roots music during her college years.

“In college, people would say to me that they liked all music except for country and rap, and that really made me want to start listening to both a little more …  figure out what it was about country that people didn’t like,” Stevens said.

The Badgers will include bass, drums, pedal steel guitar and lead guitar alongside Stevens on acoustic guitar. Appearing as a seven-piece when closer to home, the road band will be trimmed to five strong. Regardless, the band’s namesake holds true to the characteristics of the short-legged omnivores.

“Badgers are tenacious and nocturnal, which musicians really need in order to be fierce and fight for what you believe in,” Stevens said, referring to keeping focused in the multi-faceted music biz. 

In just a year after the debut album release, Stevens has appeared on World Cafe and NPR’s Mountain Stage and has shared the stage with Patty Loveless and Loudon Wainwright III among others. JHW

Concert at the Commons features Leslie Stevens and The Badgers,  4 p.m., Sunday in Teton Village at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Free. L.A. indie-folk songwriter Charlie Wadhams and JHME Rock Camp Alumni will open the show. www.poppapresents.com.

COURTESY BRYANRAGSDALE.COM
Leslie Stevens and The Badgers play a free show in Teton Village on Sunday.

PERMALINK:
Vintage country from Los Angeles | Planet JH News Article: Music Box

Leave a Comment