Kaitlin Butts has a knack for turning everyday experiences into memorable songs, and her latest album, Hello, Honky Tonk, takes listeners inside a world filled with colorful characters, late-night adventures, and the kind of stories that unfold over the course of an evening at a neighborhood bar.
Inspired by Skinny Dennis in East Nashville, the album brings together a collection of songs that share a common setting and cast of characters. But Butts didn’t stop at making a record. Drawing on her musical theater background and love of visual storytelling, she also created a mini musical that connects the songs into one larger narrative. The project gives fans another way to experience the album, with each character getting a moment in the spotlight.
The Oklahoma native, who now calls Nashville home, recently chatted with The Travel Addict about the creative process behind Hello, Honky Tonk, her favorite places in Music City, the songs she loves to cover, and the destinations still on her travel bucket list.
What does your perfect day in Nashville look like?
I go to my favorite coffee shop, Ugly Mugs. I go get my tacos for lunch. I shop at a cute little market that I like, and I probably have a show of some sort. After the adrenaline of that, I go to my bar, Skinny Dennis, and dance the night away.
Your new album, Hello, Honky Tonk, came out recently, and you also released a mini musical to accompany it. With your musical theater background, was creating something like this always part of the vision and do you want to bring it to the theater someday?
I would love to bring it to the stage someday. If anyone has the funding for that, hit me up! I am very good under pressure and could make that happen. I can see it happening someday, but there are no actual plans at the moment.
I’ve always written the music video treatments for my videos, starting with “What Else Can She Do.” I’ve kind of directed myself and had the help of Chris Beyrooty on the last several music videos, including “Flying or High” and “Unglued.” I have a pretty specific vision when I write a song about what it looks like in my head. Figuring out how to communicate that visually is one of my favorite parts of the creative process.
When it came to this album, I couldn’t pick which songs should be the focus tracks or get their own music videos. I knew that if I came up with a story with connections between the songs and wrote a treatment for all of them, I could make an entire story.
I’m also a big fan of Beyoncé’s Lemonade, and that has always been something I’ve loved. Creating a connected visual project just felt natural. I hoped they wouldn’t say no, and they didn’t. I also hoped they wouldn’t make me chip away at it and say, “How about we do four songs instead?” I really wanted to communicate the idea in its fullest form and I am really proud of it.
The album introduces several characters who spend time at the honky-tonk. Do you have a favorite?
The bartender for sure. I think everyone’s favorite is the bartender.
I loved the Yeehaw Sessions and the covers you released. How did you choose the songs, particularly your version of “The Middle”?
“Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan was really taking over the radio. She’s an artist we listen to in the van all the time. I’m a huge fan of her and everything she does. All of those songs were ones we liked playing as a band and listening to in the car.
“It’s Tulsa Time” was because I’m from Tulsa, and I wanted something that had a connection to my roots.
When it came to “The Middle,” I had been having a hard time after “You Ain’t Got a Die” went viral. It brought a lot of attention, and with a bunch of attention comes negative attention, too. I thought I could handle anything. I was raised by gay men who were very critical in musical theater, so I thought I could handle harsh criticism. Then you get into your internet comments, and you’re like, “Oh my gosh, there are no rules here.”
I wasn’t feeling very good one night, so I went to karaoke to make myself feel better, as a professional singer does. A girl started singing “The Middle.” I knew all the words, but I didn’t really know what the song was about. It was the first time I was reading the lyrics on the screen and really registering what they meant. I started crying. I thought it was the most beautiful song ever, and it was so fun watching all these girls dance to it.
The next morning, I picked up my guitar because I wanted to hear it again and learn it. I started playing it at soundcheck, and my band, who are a bunch of Little Rock kids, said, “We should cover that.” I wanted to keep it slow because I really wanted people to hear what the song was saying. I’m really proud of that project. It was also something for people who didn’t get to go on the Roadrunner tour. We played all those songs on the Yeehaw Sessions, so they could take a little piece of that experience home.
What’s your idea of the perfect road trip? Who’s going, where are you headed, and what’s playing?
The band, and we’re headed somewhere fun. Maybe Dollywood in the fall. We’d be listening to musical theater, rock and roll, folk music, Oklahoma artists, and all the above. Just putting it on shuffle.
What’s your craziest honky-tonk story?
Nothing I could say in an article! When it comes to this album, the song “I Want to Be Bad” was inspired by a feeling I had after writing so many songs in a short period of time. I was feeling restless.
I’m very strict when it comes to drinking and smoking. I’m a singer, I want to keep my job, and I love doing this so much. I’m pretty rigid about when I can allow myself to have fun. I was itching for a good time and wanting to let loose. I thought, “This is how everyone else feels after their 9-to-5 job on a Friday.” I just wanted to go out, be entertained, drink, dance, and do all the things. That was a more recent wild time, but nothing too crazy.
Is there a place you’ve visited that surprised you?
Australia. We just got back, and the people there are so warm. I didn’t necessarily expect that kind of automatic Southern comfort, but it felt like Texas with a different accent. They’re so welcoming and hospitable. I really love it there.
It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go, and I’ve been twice in the last year. I’ll definitely be going back once I can manage the 16-hour flight again.
Has a place ever inspired a song or an entire project?
Skinny Dennis over here in East Nashville inspired the entire album. I’d written probably five or six songs, and I was trying to figure out what the common thread was. I was having a hard time because people would ask, “What is the album? What’s the theme?” I couldn’t figure it out.
On that 16-hour flight to Australia, I closed my eyes and tried to visualize where all these songs belonged. I saw them in different corners of that bar. It was a lightbulb moment. I realized I was giving each little person at the bar their own spotlight. So I would say Skinny Dennis inspired it.
What are the travel essentials you never leave home without?
My heated blanket. I’m constantly cold. I don’t know what happens to you as you get older, but apparently I have no circulation! I need my melatonin strips to help me sleep, my Aquaphor, my dog Hank—he’s my little Shih Tzu—and my trucker hat for my hair.
What’s still on your travel bucket list?
I’ve crossed off a few things. Australia was definitely one. Greece is a big one that I want to visit. I’d also like to go back to Italy. I’ve been there before, but I was a student, so I didn’t really get to appreciate it in the way I probably would now.
Is there a Nashville experience you think everyone should have?
Tomato Art Fest! Everyone should go experience Tomato Art Fest. It’s one of the most loving events, and it doesn’t mean anything other than tomatoes. Everyone is celebrating tomatoes, and it’s so light, fun, and quirky. People wear tomato-themed outfits and dress up as tomatoes. They have costume contests, markets, artists, and songwriters. All these people come to Five Points in East Nashville and gather for the sake of community. I think it’s a beautiful thing.
A Honky-Tonk Story Worth Sharing
With Hello, Honky Tonk, Butts has created more than a collection of songs. The album offers a glimpse into the personalities and stories that make a neighborhood bar feel like its own little world. Her accompanying mini musical takes that idea a step further, connecting the music through characters and visuals that reflect her creative roots in musical theater.
And while the album may have been inspired by one particular East Nashville bar, its themes of friendship, fun, heartbreak, and letting loose are familiar to anyone who has spent a memorable night in a favorite neighborhood hangout. For visitors heading to Nashville, Butts has a simple recommendation: stop by Skinny Dennis, preferably on a Monday or Tuesday night, and experience the welcoming neighborhood-bar atmosphere for yourself.