Simon RushworthKaitlin Butts — Hello Honky Tonk (Republic Records)
When Kaitlin Butts quite brilliantly flashed across the Rushonrock radar at this year’s Highways Festival, it’s fair to say we were smitten.
The wise-cracking storyteller with no discernible filter and a fabulously classic country twang held the Royal Albert Hall in the palm of her hand.
And the promise of a new album drop in the autumn was music to the ears of those same ears that had just witnessed one of the sets of the weekend — if not the year.
During a short and (bitter) sweet show, Butts took the opportunity to address a larger than usual crowd with all the wit, charm and wondrous imagination we’d come to expect from the Tulsa queen’s previous work.
Her relatability is a talent and it took fewer than 10 minutes for the voice behind viral TikTok hit You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me) to strike a chord and form a connection with the Highways faithful.
Butts is seriously funny but there’s serious in her funny.
She’s as self-deprecating as she’s self-assured and as emotionally fragile as she’s a symbol of female empowerment within the often unforgiving country music scene.
Consequently Hello Honky Tonk lands against a backdrop of wild expectation.
Hot on the heels of fan favourite EP The Yeehaw Sessions, it feels like a defining moment in Butts’ slow build of a career.
Think of the star turns with Ella Langley, tours with Lainey Wilson and 157 million TikTok views as the style. Butts’ studio work is the substance.
So does Hello Honky Tonk live up to the hype? Hell yeah!
Butts raises the bar
Butts’ imaginary bar is the foundation for a series of compelling stories featuring the colourful characters she’s met and imagined over the years.
Her very own Honky Tonk is the setting for various insights into the human condition — it’s hilarious and heart-warming in equal measure.
Butts doesn’t ever dodge the harsh reality of life in love’s fast lane but even the standout Never Really Mine is a sobering tale soaked in dark humour.
Latest single What More Could You Want matches a disarming piano-led melody with some of the most affecting messaging here.
Butts steps away from the Honky Tonk regulars to lift the veil on her own recurring sense of insecurity within in a world dominated by hits, views, ticket sales and faux adulation.
“Is it ever enough? Tell me, am I too much? Do I need more sequins? Do you need more reasons to keep showin’ up for me?.”
Butts speaks for herself and her peers as she takes a deep dive into the second guessing and gut-wrenching self-doubt that afflicts so many career songwriters.
The Bartender lightens the mood as it offers the perfect window on the world that is the Honky Tonk’s diverse clientele.
And Bacon Naked (Take It From Me) is trademark Butts, speaking from the heart.
Sure this truly remarkable record has its moments of earnest reflection but, on the whole, Hello Honky Tonk is an absolute hoot.
No ifs or Butts.
