30-Minute Mini Musical Brings Eight Songs from Butts’ Critically Acclaimed New Album to Life, Introducing the Colorful Cast of Characters Inside
Kait B’s Honky Tonk Saloon

Written by Butts and Co-Directed with Friend and Frequent Collaborator Chris Beyrooty, Watch Hello, Honky Tonk: The Mini Musical HERE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tulsa-born singer-songwriter Kaitlin Butts is swinging open the saloon doors and welcoming the world inside Kait B’s Honky Tonk Saloon with the release of Hello, Honky Tonk: The Mini Musical, out now. Of her new album the Nashville Scene opined, “if Butts were to create her own stage musical, the songs on Hello, Honky Tonk would be a perfect fit.” And now she has! Written by Butts and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator Chris Beyrooty, the 30-minute mini musical brings eight songs from her critically acclaimed fourth studio album, Hello, Honky Tonk, to life on screen, introducing the colorful cast of characters who populate her larger-than-life honky tonk universe.

A labor of love for the woman NPR called “Nashville’s most promising big thinker,” the theatrical production offers fans an immersive introduction to the characters, stories and personalities found on the album, transforming her love letter to honky tonks and nightlife into a full-fledged musical experience. With “musical theater chops plus tireless charisma,” according to Garden & Gun, Butts steps into the role of Master of Ceremonies, ushering viewers through the saloon and introducing the regulars who inhabit the bar. Watch Hello, Honky Tonk: The Mini MusicalHERE.

“Getting to welcome everybody into Kait B’s Honky Tonk Saloon is truly a dream come true,” shares Butts. “This whole project has been such a labor of love, from writing the songs to bringing them to life on screen. It really fed my inner theater kid in the best possible way. I’ve always seen my songs visually, and getting to create an entire world around them and invite everybody in has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I hope everybody finds their favorite regular, grabs a drink and stays awhile.”

The mini musical features eight songs from Hello, Honky Tonk: “The Bartender,” “Everybody Wanna Sing a Country Song,” “Still Got It,” “The Joker,” “Bacon Naked (Take It from Me),” “What More Could You Want,” “Crazy I Can Be” and “Midnight, I’ll Always Be Yours.”

Butts’ theatrical vision extends beyond the music and performances to the production’s carefully considered visual details, with the artist deeply involved in styling and creating the distinctive looks that bring the honky tonk’s characters to life. Working alongside stylist Cathy Hahn, Butts regularly shares her own drawings and collages as inspiration. The dress featured on the album artwork, for example, began as a sketch by Butts before Hahn helped bring the design to life. Originally a costume designer, Hahn was the ideal collaborator to help Butts create something unique, theatrical and entirely her own.

The mini musical builds on the imaginative world of Hello, Honky Tonk, a love letter to the honky tonks and nightlife that have shaped Butts’ life and career. Inspired in part by the vaudeville vignettes of Chicago and Disney World’s Country Bear Musical Jamboree, the album unfolds like a musical set inside a neighborhood bar, where every character has a story and every night brings a new scene with No Depression declaring it “invites us all into a place and to a night we’ll never forget.” Listen to Hello, Honky TonkHERE.

The production arrives on the heels of a whirlwind week for Butts, who celebrated the release of Hello, Honky Tonk with a flurry of appearances, including her national television debut with a performance of “I Wanna Be Bad” on “TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle.” She also stopped by LGBTQ+ nightlife favorites Flaming Saddles and Pieces Drag Bar before celebrating the album with a release show at Lucinda’s in New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and a sold-out performance at Nashville’s Skinny Dennis on Thursday, Oct. 29, the very honky tonk that helped inspire the album’s world.

Named one of Rolling Stone’s most anticipated albums for 2026, Hello, Honky Tonk is a 14-track collection recorded in Nashville with producer Tofer Brown (Carter Faith, Willow Avalon, Little Big Town). The album creates a world of its own, populated by the characters listeners might recognize from the dance floor, behind the bar or tucked away in the corner booth.

And yet even as Butts honors the merry murderesses of the Cook County Jail and a lineup of surprisingly sassy and lovelorn teddy bears, the sound is pure country, folding in influences ranging from Merle Haggard and Roger Miller to the Chicks and Miranda Lambert. While Butts fantasizes about the lives of those who come to her virtual honky tonk, she hopes fans walk away not just knowing her better, but themselves as well.

“All these songs are very deeply personal to me, and I relate to them word for word,” she says. “But my intention is never just to be relatable. I hope people find their own lives within the whole thing.”

With Hello, Honky Tonk, Butts builds on the momentum of her critically acclaimed 2024 album Roadrunner!, a bold reimagining inspired by Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! The album landed on numerous year-end best-of lists and featured her viral anthem “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me),” which has amassed more than 157 million TikTok views and 67 million global streams.

Butts will continue celebrating Hello, Honky Tonk with her Hello, Honky Tonk Live and In Person Tour, with December dates in Texas and Oklahoma. Tickets are available at kaitlinbutts.com.

HELLO, HONKY TONK LIVE AND IN PERSON TOUR DATES
Dec. 10 — College Station, TX — Harry’s Northgate
Dec. 11 — Helotes, TX — Floore’s Country Store
Dec. 12 — Corpus Christi, TX — Brewster Street Ice House
Dec. 17 — Oklahoma City, OK — Tower Theatre
Dec. 18 — Fort Worth, TX — Billy Bob’s Texas

HELLO, HONKY TONK — TRACK LISTING

1. Introducing: Hello Honky Tonk (Kaitlin Butts)
2. I Wanna Be Bad (Kaitlin Butts, Natalie Hemby)
3. The Bartender (Kaitlin Butts, Tofer Brown, Natalie Hemby)
4. Never Really Mine (Kaitlin Butts, Lola Kirke, Maggie Antone)
5. I Make Cowboys Cry (Kaitlin Butts, Shane McAnally)
6. The Joker (Kaitlin Butts, Jessie Jo Dillon, Sasha Alex Sloan)
7. Everybody Wanna Sing a Country Song (Kaitlin Butts, Tofer Brown, Luke White)
8. What More Could You Want (Kaitlin Butts, Tofer Brown, Natalie Hemby)
9. Still Got It (Kaitlin Butts)
10. Crazy I Can Be (Kaitlin Butts, Tofer Brown, Lauren Hungate)
11. That Makes One of Us (Kaitlin Butts, Lori McKenna)
12. Hell I Don’t Know (Kaitlin Butts, Natalie Hemby, Luke Dick)
13. Bacon Naked (Take It From Me) (Kaitlin Butts, Natalie Hemby)
14. Midnight I’ll Always Be Yours (Kaitlin Butts, Jessi Alexander, Jon Randall)

For the latest news, music and tour dates, visit kaitlinbutts.com and follow @kaitlinbutts on Instagram and Facebook, and @kaitlinbuttsmusic on TikTok.