PHOTOS: Katelyn Tarver – New York, NY 2/5/24

The sheer excitement and gratitude on Katelyn Tarver’s face as she took the stage at the intimate Baby’s All Right perfectly summed up the atmosphere of the evening.

Tarver celebrated the release of her sophomore album “Quitter” with a memorable one-night-only show at the iconic venue in Brooklyn. She and her guitarist, Ryland Holland, put on an acoustic set to share her new album in full for the first time live to a crowd as if they’ve been invited into her living room.

Tarver also treated the crowd to a few older, beloved songs from her discography and a special guest appearance from NYC-based artist ROSIE. 

Finally experiencing “Quitter” in full was especially thrilling for her loyal fanbase that has witnessed her evolution as an artist, songwriter and storyteller. Tarver has been building up anticipation by releasing singles throughout the past year and finishing her first-ever headlining tour in the US and the UK just last November. With her persistence and unique talent to capture the complexity of the human experience in simple, yet nuanced and resonant lyrics, Tarver has authentically connected with fans and shared pieces of her life for years— and she is here to stay.

The Georgia-born and LA-based songwriter kicked off the show to an excited crowd in Brooklyn with “Quitter,” the title track of the album. The upbeat song sums up this moment of her career: the feeling of self-acceptance and freedom from other people’s expectations. It was refreshing as a listener to understand through Tarver’s music how much growth– and struggles– she has experienced as an artist since beginning her career almost 20 years ago on “American Juniors.”

Performing all the tracks in order on the album, Tarver expanded, dissected and articulated the album’s themes of nostalgia, getting older, self-destructiveness, and self-reflection in between songs. She confessed about the process of writing the album, admitting to her own sensitivity as a person and the impostor syndrome as a “child star-adjacent” artist and actress. Between songs, the singer would express her genuine appreciation to the crowd for listening and singing the lyrics of all the songs she had released in the past year back to the stage.

Tarver knows how to give life and real emotion to her lyricism. Following the opening song, a stripped piano version of “What Makes A Life Good?” set the tone for an introspective night. The show may have left listeners with more questions than answers. The storytelling in “Ignorance is Bliss” and “Parallel Universe” encouraged her audience to reflect personally and join Tarver in life’s journey of constant uncertainties, discoveries and curiosities. 

Her talent as both a songwriter and actress shone through songs like poignant renditions of the cathartic “Starting to Scare Me”, the passionate “You Don’t Know,” the vulnerable “Revisionist History” and the tender “Just a Person.” The latter two were performed in front of a crowd live for the very first time— and perfectly executed in the intimate venue.

A highlight during the show was Tarver’s “When I Leave Home” duet with ROSIE. Coming off of Tarver’s debut album, “Subject To Change,” the song was imbued with fresh harmonies sweetly blended with the two’s honey-like vocals. The artists also bring together a heartfelt performance of ROSIE’s own single “Lose Me Too,” released a week before the “Quitter” LP.

For an artist who has been in the industry for over 20 years, it is admirable how Tarver still treats her fans as if they are close friends and continues to take inspiration from other artists, even younger ones like ROSIE. She humbly poked fun at her early attempts to pop stardom with “Japanese Cafe” while interacting with the crowd with some charming banter. She sang about the beauty of friendship to an audience smiling and swaying side by side with their plus ones and best friends during “Friend Like You.” She even changed the lyrics subtly in “Cinematic” from “Get drunk with you in the East Village” to “out in Brooklyn.”

With the outpouring of love from this audience to meet Tarver after the show, all the warm interactions during the set translated to real conversations, signed posters and fan-crafted gifts. The show felt like a tribute to an eager crowd that would jump at the chance to come back for Tarver’s next show in New York because of her authentic lyrics and presence.

If Tarver’s goal was to leave the audience with an open-ended message, “One Without the Other” easily accomplished that. In the closing song, she described the nuances and grays of life by validating the feeling that there can be solace in embracing unpredictability and contradiction. As Tarver embarks on a new chapter in her career and fans soak in her new album, she reminds listeners of a sentiment that will remain certain: “Yeah, wherever I’ve been and whatever comes next / Can’t have one without the other.”