Just a few years ago, Leslie Stevens was this city's best and brightest new alt-country singer. Fronting Leslie & the Badgers, she cooed and trilled with a birdlike loveliness and intricacy, which evoked Dolly Parton, but her folk-pop songs were too rooted in the here and now to come off as merely quaint nostalgia. Whether she's backed by the Badgers, duetting with other singers or performing on her own, Stevens always blends heartfelt soul and intelligence with delicately homespun phrasing, turning the often-tired Americana genre into something that feels new. Former Rex Aquarium leader Charlie Wadhams strums quietly reflective songs such as “Out at the Bar” with soothing harmonies and restless imagery. He has worked with Priscilla Ahn and Benji Hughes, and two of his coolly evocative original songs appeared in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Wed., July 9, 8 p.m., 2014
(Expired: 07/09/14)

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