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SXSW interview: Leslie and the Badgers
Leslie and the Badgers at once honor country tradition (“My Tears Are Wasted on You”) and broaden its boundaries (“Americans in Rome”) on “Roomful of Smoke.” The Los Angeles-based septet supports the expansive collection at SXSW.
“I love music for the emotional connection that you get when you see an artist really weave a story,” lead singer Leslie Stevens said Friday morning. “That’s why there’s country influence. We like the guilelessness and the storytelling and craft.”
(They play at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Vincent De Paul Vintage Boutique, 1327 S. Congress Ave.).
American-Statesman: What are your impressions of SXSW?
Leslie Stevens: It’s not my first time here. I came as a fan once, and I did a little backup here one year. This is my first time with Leslie and the Badgers, though. It’s just so inspiring. I know it’s kind of a sacrifice for Austin to let these people come in from all over the world and clog up the streets with traffic, but it’s so wonderful for musicians.
How do you gear up for a day with three gigs?
I don’t know how you do it. We just try to have fun. We played three shows yesterday and have three today, and we just try to keep it informal and go with the flow. Anything can happen (laughs). I’d like to stay the whole weekend, but I have to leave early. I have to go play Mountain Stage (in West Virginia) with Loudon Wainwright III and Patty Loveless on Sunday.
That’s certainly a good enough reason to leave.
Yeah, I’m really honored by the opportunity. Seems like all of a sudden we have all these great things happening. We’re playing with Roky Erickson and Okkervil River at (San Francisco’s) The Fillmore in May. Roky’s a legend everywhere, but especially here in Austin. He’s incredible. It’s a little bit intimidating.
You advanced your showcase yesterday at B.D. Riley’s on Twitter. Do you find that posting there gets people out to gigs?
We do have that happen. It seems like the social networking helps when you’re in a band. Maybe they bring two or three additional people out to the show. I don’t really know what to make of it.
As a musician, what’s the most appealing aspect of the Internet?
You can’t beat not having to leave the house to purchase music. I think being able to digitally obtain music is kind of amazing. It’s still in its infancy, and it’ll take a minute for everything to be sorted out. I mean, you can download to your phone.
What about the flip side? Someone can watch your show on Youtube instead of buying a ticket.
To me, watching something on Youtube and experiencing the actual thing are vastly different. I’ve never felt like one’s a substitute for the other. Who knows, the way things are going, we could have Youtube in 3-D any minute here.
Probably.
We played Noise Pop (in San Francisco) with an artist (Zee Avi) who’s known as a Youtube sensation. I guess her videos have millions of hits, and the show sold out. It seems like it’s a tool that can bring people from all over to see your music. It’s kind of a miraculous thing that somebody in India can be watching music over here.
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