Illustration by Colleen O'Hara
I moved to LA about a year ago, and it’s the first time I’ve lived outside of Tennessee. My hometown of Memphis is so interesting. It’s like a big city, and it has a legendary musical heritage, but the contemporary scene is small. Because it’s a B market, the kind of music coming to Memphis when I was growing up was country, rap acts, or the third run of a pop tour. Then there was metalcore and groups that got their start in the South, like Lucero and Drive-By Truckers. So when I was playing in indie rock DIY bands, we’d play with sludge metal bands, solo acoustic acts, or just some guy rapping. It was an amalgam of influences. Scarceness makes you hungry—not that you’re less discerning, but that you’re more open.
I have this beautiful memory of being 13 years old and going with some older friends to Java Cabana, a second-wave coffee shop with beads and stickers everywhere. Valerie June was performing. It was amazing. I played in a church praise band growing up, but the first time I played a show was at 14 years old at Otherlands Coffee Bar, an institution. It’s gorgeous. I played there so often.
When I’m away, I miss the food. Central BBQ has the best barbecue sandwich on planet Earth. I was a vegan for five years, and I would still recommend the pork shoulder sandwich. The dry-rub mac and cheese is my guilty pleasure. When I’m home I love to walk around the Cooper-Young neighborhood. I’ll stop in at Burke’s Book Store and say hey to my friends who used to bartend at Young Avenue Deli. It’s a fun place to shoot pool. I’ll also walk around Overton Park—I think about the gorgeous trails all the time. And I love to go see live music, mostly heavier stuff, at the Hi Tone. Hopefully one day I’ll get to do a show with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum Theatre. It’s my most beloved place. I’m always happy to talk about Memphis—it’s all people can do to get me to shut up about it.
Indie-rock singer-songwriter Julien Baker, known for her role in supergroup Boygenius, released the alt-country album Send a Prayer My Way this spring in collaboration with Torres.
This article appears in the Fall 2025 issue of Southbound.
