Arriving early to the Echo on a Monday night can mean a few things: one over estimated their arrival time, there’s time to grab a drink, and / or luck and a solid promoter will provide great opening acts. Sans drink specials yet free entrance compliment the talent lined up for the evening with the likes of Amanda Jo Williams and her band, Canadian singer-songwriter Doug Paisley, and local September residents Leslie and the Badgers.

The initial opening act Amanda Jo Williams sings soft and easy but the energy of her players contrasts in such a harmonious way that it takes the collective performance to another sonic plane. Guitarist 5-track plays licks not necessarily on the groove yet in it yielding syncopation in coordination with the fat bass pedal underneath singer Amanda’s foot that pounds the kick drum away into the night. Furthermore, bongo player “Little Feather” Lauren is a human percussion instrument who stomps and hollers on stage with tiny cymbals chiming and ringing as they dangle around the ankles of her boots.

Following the opening band, our neighbor from the north Doug Paisley wears pants because, as he puts it, “In Canada, we don’t wear shorts.” Despite the geographical climate difference, Doug sings what he calls “post-apocalyptic” songs of a dependant kind of love in a very cool, low tenor-ed voice. Doug did not play with a band like the other acts that night, which says a lot for a person in this town; being a lone man on the stage in front of a full house only highlighted the specialty of this musician. In fact, I had never seen a fish out of water look so comfortable.  Paisley doesn’t miss a beat as he doesn’t necessarily finger pick but rather effortlessly strums his bass and treble in a way reminiscent of early Bob Dylan’s idiosyncratic yet melodic guitar lines.

And finally, seasoned as the weather itself, September residents Leslie and the Badgers play in a style more retro than vintage country but nevertheless unique. With their multi-talented instrumentalist stage show, like a gypsy caravan picking up musicians and fans along the way (at least more since I had last seen the group), the band plays its well crafted melodic lines in particular with sweeping violin, slide pedal steel guitar and lyrics such as “When you say I miss you day and night / with love brighter than the ballpark lights / I’m a boat lost at sea siding on the shore / say you miss me once more” which are real enough to steal one’s heart away. Moreover, the band’s rendition of Mormon Organ player Buffy Visick’s “It’s Okay to Trip” rouses the whole audience into singing along if not getting up on the stage to join the band.

Make sure not to miss the band at the Echo this Monday for their final night of residency brought to you by When You Awake with L.A. Record. Leslie and her group of amazing Badgers will play with Best Coast, Paperplanes, and Sean Ellis.

—Steven Carrer