Country Up and Comer of the Month: Kaitlin Butts Interview

Even before Kaitlin Butts released her 2024 Oklahoma!-inspired album Roadrunner! and earned a viral hit with the rowdy kiss-off “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me),” which peaked at No. 59 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in July 2025, she was steadily forging a reputation as a fearless truthteller and a creator of songs with keen, unvarnished lyrics, deeply-ingrained country sounds and theatrical leanings.

This week, Butts will not only perform as part of Billboard’s annual Country Live event in downtown Nashville on June 5, but will also make her CMA Fest debut, with performances at the Chevy Riverfront Stage and the platform stage at Nissan Stadium.

“It’s hard to process. I’m really excited and did not think that I would ever in my life be able to play a stadium ever,” the Oklahoma-born Butts says of playing Nissan Stadium. “I watched Carter Faith [play Nissan Stadium for CMA Fest] last year and was just so proud of her, and was like, ‘How can we do that?’ And we’re getting to do that this year. I sang at Boone Pickens Stadium with Jason Boland for the Boys From Oklahoma Show. That was a momentous Oklahoma moment, but it wasn’t my moment, either. It was me running onstage to sing with a friend. So, to have this moment just be mine is kind of wild to think about.”

The new milestones come amid a whirlwind stretch for the singer-songwriter. She signed with Republic Records last year, and in 2026 has opened more shows for Lainey Wilson and headlined her own European Cowgirl Experience, making stops across the UK and appearing at London’s Highways Festival. She’s also appeared in new music videos by her friends and country music colleagues Ella Langley (“Choosin’ Texas”) and Dasha (“Mad About It”).

Billboard spoke with Butts about women supporting women in country music, the inspiration behind her new classic country-sounding song “Never Really Mine,” and what to expect from her next album.

“You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me)” blew up on TikTok last year. What was it like being in that moment and seeing the fan reactions?

It changed my life. And it was really cool to also watch so many women lift that song up, and peers of mine and artists like Lainey [Wilson], Ella [Langley] and Avery Anna — everyone around me was just wanting to support it. So many women identify with it and it’s just such a Southern way of looking at it. That’s what my mom said to me, she was like, “Hey, someone doesn’t have to die, they can just be dead to you.” And I think that’s why so many people identify with it, because I do have murder songs. I just released a murder song [“Hypothetically Speaking”] with Willow [Avalon] about chopping a guy up and feeding him to alligator. I’m not afraid of writing about that, but with [“You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead to Me)”], I feel like that song encapsulated really what I’m about, which is writing off toxic people in your life.

Just in this conversation, you’ve brought up a few women artists who are all hitting new career highs, and you can see a supportive camaraderie there.

It’s so cool. I feel like I, as a young artist, was told lies. I got told that women don’t like listening to other women, or they don’t like it when their husbands or boyfriends listen to women [artists] because they’re afraid that they want to leave with them or something. I got told subtle things that pit women against each other. But the more I have been doing this, the more I have found evidence that none of those things are true. There are so many women that are just reaching out to each other. It comes so easy to all of us to just lift each other up, like Ella did and like Dasha did. It does feel like an act of defiance of all those things that we were told, or all the comments about women not being good enough. Whenever you’re actually in it, you realize we are so much closer and we all have that thing inside of us that burns to do this. So, I think that there’s so much mutual respect in this community.

You were in Ella’s video for “Choosin’ Texas.” What was it like taking on that role?

Ella just called me one day and asked me to be in her video. I didn’t realize I had an actual part in it, because a lot of times, you’ll be an extra, or someone will say, “Hey, come be in the background so I have a friend back there and it’s not just strangers.” I thought it looked cool and my manager’s like, “Kaitlin, you’ll play the girl that’s mean to her in the bathroom.” I was like, “What? Okay, so full part, full acting.” I was nervous but it was such a surreal day to be in it alongside Ella and alongside Miranda [Lambert], who is the reason why I and so many women are doing this.

What inspired your new song “Never Really Mine”?

I had been at Two Step Inn [festival]with [Butts’ husband] Cleto [Cordero, frontman of Flatland Cavalry]. He and I were walking toward the backstage area and some girl straight up just cat-called him as I was holding his hand. I thought it was hilarious. She had some balls, but it made me laugh so hard. Someone later asked me, “Does that ever bother you?” I said, “A man that can be taken from me is not mine, was never really mine.” That stuck with me and I realized a lot of girls have probably felt that way. I started singing just like the biggest epitome of what it would take for the male gaze to walk in, and I was like, “The only way I can say this is [the opening lyric]: ‘Big lips, big tits.’” You know exactly what I’m saying or who I’m talking about whenever I say that. I think that there are people like me who don’t feel that way and if you’re into that va-va-voom kind of woman, I’m kind of opposite. Nothing wrong with either one, that’s why I wanted to say [in the song], “I’m no better, I’m no worse,” we’re just different.

What else can fans expect from the new album? Any collabs?

I don’t have any collabs at the moment. My last album [2024’s Roadrunner!] was very themed around Oklahoma the musical and how that musical would sound in today’s world. This next one, I really just want it to be true classic country songs and then meld theater and very cinematic vibes into it. My whole album, I’ll be putting out by the end of this year, I just want it to be that true, Merle Haggard honky tonk vibe — and that song [“Never Really Mine”] is one of my favorites the album.

What other inspirations are you drawing on for it?

The other day I was coming up with Pinterest boards and I mean, this thing has like Tom and Jerry cartoons on it. It’s got an old show girl aesthetic, there’s old Western posters, there’s Toy Story in there. There’s Almost Famous, there’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. There’s just so many different things that I’m trying to pull from.

You signed with Republic earlier this year. Why did you feel like that was the best label home for you?

I had probably 12 labels reach out. A lot of meetings to take, and I feel like I determined how I liked people based off how I act around them, if I feel safe around them. When I leave a meeting, I’m asking myself, “Did I speak authentically? Was I the most authentic in that?” The people that brought that out the most in me after those meetings was Republic. Also, [Republic Records Executive VP of Artist and Label Strategy and former Spotify exec] Mary Catherine Kinney has been a cheerleader for me before she had reason to be.

You are in Ella and Dasha music videos and your music has been featured in Yellowstone and Landman. Would you ever want to jump into acting, beyond music videos?

1000%, I would love to do more of that because I do a lot of it just in music videos and I love being on set. I feel definitely called to do things like that. I’ve helped direct Flatland [Cavalry’s] video for “Unglued” with my friend Chris Beyrooty and I love being in that environment and creating the visual aspect. I think that’s something that I want to work towards — not just being a touring musician that’s always on the road. I want to create in other ways too.

Who are some of your favorite Taylor Sheridan characters?

I love Yellowstone. I’ve watched the first season of Landman, mostly because I love the women in it. The mom and the daughter, I think they’re so funny. Every time [Sheridan] has put my song on the show, it’s been with them in it. They say things that…I have no filter on me, as you can tell by [the lyric in “Never Really Mine”] “Big lips/ big tits.” I will say exactly what’s on my mind and they do that, too. And I think it’s so funny just to watch the shock value. I love shock value humor and they exhibit that.

What is the first album you remember falling in love with?

When I was five, I got the NSYNC, No Strings Attached album. But when I got older, I was obsessed with Avril Lavigne. And then The Chicks’ debut album. I used to cut finger holes in my socks so I could have fingerless gloves like Avril.

What book or podcast are you into right now?

I love So True With Caleb Hearon. He’s so intelligent and hilarious. He’s the person that if there’s three podcasters at the table, he’s the one making everyone howl laughing. I’m reading The Let Them Theory. It’s a good reminder to just let people be sometimes.