Kaitlin Butts wants to bring back the honky tonk. With her latest album, Hello, Honky Tonk, the rising country star aims to get people out, get people dancing, and get people to leave their problems on the other side of the bar’s creaky wood door.
“Every time I get cooped up in my own space, I forget what it feels like to get dressed, and get out, and just connect with people, even if you’re just sitting next to somebody at the bar not saying anything,” Butts told American Songwriter. “There’s something to going out and it’s something that I believe we need. I hope that these songs provide the nostalgia or the romanticism of going out to a dusty little dive bar.”
On the eve of her LP’s release, Butts brought that vibe to life at East Nashville haunt Skinny Dennis. She told sold out crowd that the venue is where she imagined the whole album taking place. As such, it’s no surprise that the songs fit so perfectly in the space.
Throughout her two-hour set, Butts played all 14 songs that appear on her latest LP. In doing so, she introduced listeners to the characters that make up the album.
“Hello, Honky Tonk, it’s me, as the entertainer in the room, turning the spotlight to different corners of the room. I’m giving each character from the honky tonk their own song or act,” Butts said ahead of the gig. “I’m a big fan of the musical Chicago… I really like how she’s visualizing what each character’s act would sound like, so that’s kind of what I’m doing… I’m giving the bartender, the lovers, the line dancers, the girls that are bitching about their boyfriends in the bathroom their own song.”
The Concept Behind Kaitlin Butts’ Hello, Honky Tonk
With an album concept like that, it follows that the musical influences would be wide and varied. On each track, listeners may hear the sass of Kasey Musgraves, the confessional lyrics of Brandi Carlisle, the old school country style of Merle Haggard. Or, more likely, it’ll be a mix of all of the above.
The lead single, “Never Really Mine,” was Butts’ way to “come out swinging with big lips, big tits.” It’s conversational and pointed, infused with both heartbreak and acceptance.
“I Wanna Be Bad,” by comparison, is none of those things. It’s encouraging someone to let all those pesky emotions go and just have some fun.
“I had been writing so much that I, one night, was just like, ‘I have got to go out to the bar and be entertained and drink cocktails and be swung around on the dance floor,’” Butts recalled. “… That is a song that is a true reflection of how I feel as a songwriter, as an entertainer. It’s a tug and pull of loving and being fueled by what I do, but also kind of being drained by it.”
What Makes Kaitlin Butts Unique
The album also has the unexpected. There’s a touch of Disney magic that harkens back to the Country Bear Musical Jamboree alongside a sprinkle of Broadway-style vocals.
The latter aspect is most obviously felt on “What More Could You Want,” Butts’ favorite song on the LP.
Its big vocals and yearning quality would just as easily fit in as the Act I closer in a Broadway show as it would on a country album. That’s a feat that only Butts herself could achieve.
“I’m most proud of that song [than any other] I’ve ever written before. I feel like it’s something that I truly wanted to say exactly how I felt,” she said. “I feel like you can see yourself in it, even if you’re not a performer.”
Butts continued, “You can see yourself in it if you’re a mother, or a business owner, or just somebody who’s just trying everything that they can to just survive in this ever-consuming world, wondering if everything that they do, if it will be enough.”
Inside Kaitlin Butts’ Album Release Show
As fans watched Butts perform live, a mix of Willie Nelson’s classic country vibe and Miley Cyrus’ over the top performance qualities made themselves known.
When Butts sang the “very quirky, very funny” “Bacon Naked (Take It From Me),” for instance, she got the crowd in on the joke. The performer acted as the wise older woman offering a newly of age individual some unsolicited advice.
The crowd was equally charmed by “Everybody Wanna Sing a Country Song.” So much so that they followed Butts instructions to sing back “hot damn” and “giddy up” with verve.
The same can be said for “The Bartender,” Butts’ ode to her favorite person in the honky tonk, as attendees jammed out to its rocking beat and Marcus King vibes.
What’s Next for Kaitlin Butts
Butts’ Nashville show was an early taste of what fans can expect from her Hello, Honky Tonk Tour, which will kick off in December. While not every venue will be as tailor made for the songs as Skinny Dennis, Butts is aiming to bring that experience with her everywhere she goes.
“I really am trying to turn venues that aren’t honky tonks into honky tonks, and just have a full evening of separating themselves from whatever they’re going through out there,” she said. “I feel like that’s what honky tonks are for. Leave your outside world and clock out, just enjoy yourself and be entertained.”
As for what’s next for Butts now that the album is out in the world, she, happily, has no clue.
“I’ve checked off a whole lot of things that I’ve wanted to do on my bucket list to this point,” she said. “I’m looking at this next chapter and not really knowing what’s in store. I feel like that’s a kind of an exciting thing to just be open to whatever happens to me.”
Photos by Thomas Crabtree
The post How Kaitlin Butts Crafted the Honky Tonk of Her Wildest Dreams on Her Latest LP (Exclusive) appeared first on American Songwriter.