Kaitlin Butts pulls from her musical theatre roots to bring her favorite musical to life in her upcoming album, Roadrunner!
Proud Okie and self-proclaimed slinger of “sad yeehaw vibes,” Kaitlin Butts, has been turning heads in the red dirt scene for the better part of a decade now by consistently going against the grain, an approach that’s quite on brand for the fiery singer.
That mentality continues on her new album Roadrunner!, a 17-track modernized retelling of Oklahoma!, Butts’ favorite musical. It’s a piece of art that’s impact on her goes all the way back to childhood when her mother enrolled her in musical theatre and vocal lessons at the age of five, ultimately setting into motion the creative journey that’s bringing this album to life nearly three decades later.
“I was first enrolled in gymnastics but just ended up standing in front of the mirrors singing the entire time,” Butts says with a grin to C&I. “My teacher confronted my mom after one of the classes and told her ‘she does not like to do cartwheels. You need to put her in musical theatre.’ And that’s exactly what she did.”
Watch Kaitlin Butts in the music video for Roadrunner!’s title track.
The idea for making a record based around Butts’ favorite musical came whilst introducing her husband, Flatland Cavalry frontman Cleto Cordero, to Oklahoma! during the COVID-19 lockdown of early 2020. Butts had just written a song called “Spur,” a story of reclamation that sees its protagonist escaping from a partner who only brings her pain and holds her back. Upon watching the musical she noticed similarities between the song and one of the scenes that sparked the enchanting concept.
“There’s a scene where a woman throws a guy out of his own wagon, grabs the reins and takes off,” describes Butts. “I thought that was a cool premise for a song and it ended up sparking the whole idea. From there I began thinking back on the whole musical and wondering if I had any other songs that could fit into its narrative.”
Much of the script for Roadrunner! — and all of Butts’ music, for that matter — follows that theme of reclamation. Her previous album, 2022’s What Else Can She Do, tackles everything from domestic violence to substance abuse. Her latest effort aims to modernize gender roles and empower listeners in a way that its 1920s counterpart fell short on. This manifests itself as a mix of original songs, rebuttals to ones from the musical, and even a cover from its predecessor that turn the musical on its head while honoring its rich legacy and showcasing Butts’ impeccable charm at the same time.
“As far as songwriting goes, I’ve always been obsessed with the humor of country music,” explains Butts. “There’s a lot of that in musical theatre too, but also so much more. That influence continues to show up in my performances now with everything from my walkout music to how I dress and even my banter between songs.”
That humor is exemplified on songs like the Vince Gill duet “Come Rest Your Head” (which was inspired by a girl Butts saw in the crowd at a music festival wearing a shirt with the words “Cowboy pillows” emblazoned across the chest), the resentful “You Ain’t Gotta Die To Be Dead To Me,” and “Hunt You Down,” a cover of Kesha’s 2017 album Rainbow that she’s made her own thanks in part to a specially curated line dance, following in the footsteps of the viral momentum behind Beyonce’s “TEXAS HOLD’EM” and Dasha’s “Austin.” According to Butts, “Hunt You Down” fits into the Oklahoma! narrative with the happy-go-lucky character Ado Annie and Will Parker, the young man in pursuit of her heart.
Watch the music video for “Hunt You Down.”
“She’s this flirtatious girl who doesn’t like commitment and Parker’s a man who pays $50 to take her hand in marriage,” recites Butts. “They really do like each other, but when she gets around other boys she starts going crazy. At the end he gives her an ultimatum, basically checking her faithfulness to him. That’s exactly what “Hunt Me Down” is about — it’s all or nothing if you mess around — which is the same narrative, just from the perspective of the woman rather than the man and with the threat of murder involved.”
Another song centering on Ado Annie is “That’ll Never Be Me.” The ballad is a direct response to “Many A New Day” from the musical, which sees Annie crying over a man who’s just dumped her. Butts’ rebuttal turns the situation on its head, instead making it a story about a protagonist who’s thankful to have the man in her rear view mirror. “I wrote that one more on the outside looking in from watching the musical and knowing that I’ll never be that type of woman because of how much our culture has changed between now and when the original first came out nearly a century ago.”
Others, like “People Will Say We’re In Love,” see Butts teaming up with Cordero on the record’s only direct cover from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical. The heartfelt rendition not only sounds great, but serves as a bridge between the roaring ’20s era of Oklahoma! and the modern era embodied within Roadrunner!.
“I definitely wanted [this record] to be brighter and a temperature change from my last record,” says Butts. “The last one was really dark, so on this I wanted people to know that the sun is coming out similar to the sentiment of the song “Oh, What A Beautiful Morning” that kicks off Oklahoma!.
“One thing that music has taught me is that we’re all going through hard times, which makes us a lot more similar than we tend to let on,” she concludes. “It’s also always been a part of my life, so getting to fully merge it with my other love of theatre on this record has been a dream come true.”
Watch the album’s overture, “My New Life Starts Today.”
Check out Kaitlin Butts on Spotify and Apple Music.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Thomas Crabtree