Katelyn Tarver recently released her third studio album Tell Me How You Really Feel. The album's subject matter is about her divorce and subsequent feelings around it. I got the opportunity to photograph her The Echoplex set for US Rocker Music. You can read the review here. If you're interested in an official review, I would suggest going there.
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| Katelyn Tarver at The Echoplex |
I've followed her since 2015 when I ran across her at the Bootleg Theater (at the time it was called Bootleg HiFi). For those wondering, the venue didn't survive 2020, but is currently operated by a new owner as 2220 Arts. At the time, I made note about her song "Weekend Millionaires." The venue I do equate with her is the Resident DTLA (a venue that shut down in late 2025). I saw her there twice in 2017. At the time, the venue was a hotspot in the Art District. I would say it was the equivalent to Frogtown's Zebulon (though smaller). I don't recall what year I saw her on HBO's Ballers (she appeared in a number of episodes in 2018 -- season 4 -- though I might have caught that season later), but I remember being so thrilled to see her on the television screen. I'm too old to have seen her as Jo Taylor.
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| Katelyn Tarver at The Echoplex |
Those Resident DTLA shows were the last time I crossed paths with her. I did notice that she would play shows in Los Angeles. For example, I remember that she played The Troubadour in 2022. I just never made it to another set. When I noticed that she was playing The Echoplex, I decided immediately that I wanted a photo pass, because 9-ish years was way too long. I happened to notice that she was associated with Nettwerk Music and I knew that I had an in as I had gotten a photo pass through them to catch The Album Leaf (another band where too much time had passed since my last encounter and I had made it a mission to get a photo pass to that set). I got approved and I was thrilled.
Okay, so what's my song spotlight from the new album? My favorite song off the album is the wistful "No Matter What." But . . . Erewhon just opened up a location in Glendale (the city where I live). Now, personally, I've never entered an Erewhon in my life, but I've seen people discuss their trips to Erewhon on Youtube or Instagram. On May 20th, a few days before her set, the Glendale location opened up for business. I've been teasing my friends that we should go buy a $20+ smoothie. In honor of the Erewhon in Glendale, the Song Spotlight goes to "$82 at Erewhon."
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| Katelyn Tarver at The Echoplex |
She introduced the song by saying, "An older man was talking to me at the merch table. 'I just discovered your music.' 'How did you find it?' 'My parents founded Erewhon.' Is that crazy?" She mentioned that she did a Google search and she believes he was telling her the truth. She continued, "Erewhon, obviously, we all love." Ha ha, I'm going to have to head off for that $20+ smoothie or that viral $20 strawberry (not plural, singular). She ended her audience conversation by saying that the song was, "about finding a charge that sent me into a spiral." Hey, I respect people who watch their money closely.
It is a song that highlights one of the major reasons for divorce, differences in how one deals with personal finances. Yet, even though that $82 got under her skin, she finds it on reflection a memory to remember in a "charming" way. A song about knowing why they got a divorce and the difficulties of letting go.
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| Katelyn Tarver at The Echoplex |
Wanna tell you about how I played a show out in France
Setlist: Losing, No Matter What, So Am I, Strange Weather, Starting to Scare Me, Nicer, Don’t Eat Pary Love, Double Edged Sword, The Price, Japanese Cafe, Weekend Millionaires, You Don’t Know, Right For Me, IDGAF (mash-up with Big Sean’s I Don’t Fuck With You) , #1, $82 at Erewhon, Covell, Trust Myself.
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