Taylor Locke

LA musician Taylor Locke took social distancing to the extreme at a recent headlining appearance at Burbank’s Starlight Bowl. The 5,000-cap amphitheater, which Locke broke into, was utterly bereft of attendees. But Locke took the stage in clown makeup, singing his heart out in his own brand of ironic melancholy. The Starlight performance was a selfie mockumentary-style video shoot for “Dying Up Here,” the lead single from The Bitter End, the singer’s forthcoming EP. The song is a jaunty, tongue-in-cheek ode to entertainers who know the feeling of being run through the wood chipper of dreams that is showbiz. A look at titles like “The Dream Is Over” and the EP’s title track, and you can see a theme developing.

Suffice to say, there’s a good chance you’re not familiar with Taylor Locke the singer- songwriter. There’s a better chance you're familiar with the big, diverse body of work he’s amassed in his two decades toiling in the trenches of the music industry. Perhaps you know Locke from seeing him on MTV or arena stages during his 12-year tenure as lead guitarist and co-founder of the 2000s power-pop band Rooney. Perhaps you’ve heard some of his production and session work on your favorite records by artists The New Pornographers, Cullen Omori, Linda Thompson or late, great baroque-pop cult hero Emitt Rhodes. It’s possible you’ve heard his songwriting collaborations with artists like Geographer and Diplo, or his compositions for shows on YouTube’s Brat TV kids network.