““Canyon Country Bands are as common as brush fires in L.A. but the thing that separates this combo apart is the voice of the titular Leslie. It is a rounded shining things that evokes Patsy Cline’s sass and sorrow in one swoop."”

“Roomful Of Smoke is an unexpected pleasure and a record that fans of Whiskeytown and Neko Case will find as comfortable as a well-traveled pair of boots. The honeysweet voice of frontwoman Leslie Stevens, [and] surprisingly well-crafted songs and tasteful arrangements that will stick with you.”

“Leslie & the Badgers are quietly turning into one of the city's best quiet bands. There's a gently glowing country-rock intimacy to the songs from their self-titled 2007 debut CD and 2008 iTunes EP,”

“Like a gypsy caravan picking up musicians and fans along the way, the band plays its well crafted melodic lines in particular with sweeping violin, slide pedal steel guitar and lyrics… real enough to steal one’s heart away”

“Leslie and the Badgers are becoming one of LA’s most critically praised country rock bands.”

"Crafted with maturity and taste, the unpretentiously beautiful Roomful of Smoke warms with a soft yet crisp sound that strokes the soul and pops with more personality and color than The Watson Twins."

“Leslie Stevens' lyrics are the best kind of Pop Poetry. They evoke emotions by giving us the where, what, and when, and letting us figure out the why. [They] could have been content producing an entire album of solid country rock, but like the best of artists, they aren't afraid to take chances.”

"Roomful of Smoke" is a rousing example of the country-rock style developed by some of the Badgers' progenitors, such as the luminaries of the L.A.-based Elektra-Asylum label in the 1970s - the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne.

“-CAMPUS CIRCLE 2009 Artist to Watch-Leslie and the Badgers – It would be tempting to refer to Leslie Stevens as a poor man’s Neko Case, but as the sweetly-crooning, guitar-slinging frontlady of Leslie and the Badgers, she holds her own quite well.”

“Leslie and the Badgers "experiment with psychadelic baroque pop. 'If I Were a Linen' swirls with shades of Mr. Kite and The Zombies at their most far out.”

"Los Angeles-based Leslie & the Badgers make the exact style of country music you wish Jenny Lewis had when she dabbled her feet in the country waters. No offense to her Rabbit Fur Coat, which is fine, but damn if Leslie & the Badgers don't put her to shame."

"An accomplished rhythm guitarist and composer...Stevens has a gift for poetic turns of phrase, makes unexpected shifts from jazzy torch songs into righteous cow punk - sometimes within the same song - and manages to be sweetly uplifting even on sad numbers like 'Salvation'."

“If Leslie and The Badgers don’t make me cry tonight, I might have to ask for my money back. Or break a whiskey bottle over my head. You see, like many tremendous alt-country/roots rockers, Leslie Stevens and her nimble crew are experts in melancholy.”

“...Los Angeles-based country-styled ensemble led by adorable, sweet-toned singer-songwriter Leslie Stevens whose pipes and presence recall such honest and heartfelt vocalists as Emmylou Harris, Iris DeMent, and Alison Krauss, with a touch of Patsy Cline’s guilelessness.”

“The Badgers generously use the weepiest pedal steel...and singer Leslie Stevens holds it all together with incredible delivery and even more impressive pipes. Unfortunately No Depression just called it quits, because if there ever was a band that magazine was going to break, this is it.”

"The music of the Badgers... shows skilled craftsmanship, and you can tell in an instant that they care about what they're doing…The overall sound is something like an update on Gram Parsons-style California country."