Stalker Mom Meets Rodeo Sweetheart

By Jeannette Madden
Staff Writer

Los Angeles-based Americana quintet Leslie and The Badgers have been performing throughout the Midwest in support of their new album “Roomful of Smoke.” Produced by David Bianco (Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Teenage Fanclub), “Roomful of Smoke” features Leslie’s lovely vocals and introspective lyrics set to Western Swing, Texas Two-Step and dialed-down LA folk rock. Leslie, who began in a punk band and was known as “Stalker Mom” because of her sweetness and ability to work through country/folk songs a la Joni Mitchell, talked about how she creates music and why it means so much.

Leslie started by explaining that she gets nervous during interviews. “I have this whole body of work that’s very dear to me. I feel like if I fail to accurately depict what I do in words, I don’t know, it makes me nervous!” She laughed. “Stylistically [my music] is a blend of American styles, roots, folk, rock and roll, a little bit of country. But, I really see myself as a songwriter and my goal as a songwriter is to move the listener and create something that is truthful and real in the lyrics, which I guess is kind of a lofty goal. That emotional aspect of the music is really important to me and I love this genre for that reason. This genre, there’s a certain guilelessness and sincerity that’s associated with it. When I write songs, that’s my goal. My influences or my favorite writers that move me, that’s what I want to do, I want to move people that same way.”

“I try to let it be whatever it is to the listener,” she said. “I mean, there’s the difference. There’s the art as itself and then there’s me and my intention as I’m writing. As I’m writing I guess I do want to say, ‘Hey, I feel like this, this is an experience I’ve had, this is an emotion, do you feel the same way?’ Like it’s a reaching out kind of thing…but as far as the interpretation of what others bring to what they’re hearing, I don’t even want to touch that.”

Leslie said that working with David Bianco, the producer of “Roomful of Smoke,” was one of the greatest things about making the album. There are also a couple of songs that were originally on Leslie and the Badgers’ self-released album that was recorded in a friend’s garage. “Three of the songs, ‘Old Timers,’ ‘Tears Are Wasted on You,’ and ‘Salvation,’ were on our first release, which is out of print now.” Leslie said. “We have an EP on iTunes that was formed from that first record and then we have this release. I’m looking forward to doing another one, but, you know,’ she laughed, “I need to focus on this one first!”

Born in Chicago and raised in St. Louis, Leslie began singing in her church choir, eventually moving to Los Angeles for college, with stops in Italy and New Mexico in between. While she was in Los Angeles punk band Zeitgeist Auto Parts, Leslie wrote songs and eventually found work as a sountrack composer in Hans Zimmer’s Santa Monica studio. She then set out to find like-minded musicians to help her realize her own eclectic musical vision.

“Roomful of Smoke” begins with a homage to the group’s hometown, “Los Angeles,” with Leslie backed by fingerpicked guitar, bowed bass fiddle and Hammond organ. On the title track, “Roomful of Smoke,” Leslie delivers the twang, venturing into driving roots rock with overdriven guitars and the occasional Fleetwood Mac melodic flourish. The band plays a different hand on the hypnotic “Old Timers,” a lush, elegant gem that explores friendship and the possibility of loss. It’s a fan favorite for good reason, with rich storytelling, clever imagery and a memorable chorus.

“My Tears are Wasted on You” is pure vintage Nashville gold, with Leslie delivering a vocal lead to rival other Canyon Cowgirls of late. The arrangement ebbs and flows with effortless grace, from the waltzing fiddle lines to the liquid mercury of the spot-on pedal steel. Bolstered by a Stax-like horn section on “Silly,” Leslie and friends then connect the dots between Western Swing and gypsy jazz on the Eastern European-influenced “What Fall Promised.”

With a sound that transcends genre and time, Leslie and The Badgers would not be out of place at either the Grand Ole Opry or A Prairie Home
Companion.

“It’s Okay to Trip,” sings Leslie, perhaps a subconscious nod to the round-the-world excursion of her record. This final track brings the album back to where it started: a meditation on human frailty and the need for redemption, a wink from a companion and a smile at the cosmos.

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If You Go

What: Leslie & The Badgers
Where: Sophia’s, Davis, Calif.
When: Sat, Aug 14, 8pm
Info: 530.758.4333