Some album ideas come from late nights in a studio. Kaitlin Butts got hers from her mom on a family trip to Disney.
If the name is new to you, Kaitlin is a country singer born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Fans may already know her face from Alabama singer Ella Langley’s record-setting “Choosin’ Texas” video, where Kaitlin plays the girl who corners Ella’s character.
Now she’s stepping into the spotlight with her own music. Her fourth studio album, “Hello, Honky Tonk,” is out now. It has 14 songs, and it arrived on Friday, Oct 30.
Kaitlin is married to Cleto Cordero, the singer of the Texas band Flatland Cavalry, so music runs through the whole house. But the spark for this record came from a different family member.
Her mom.
Kaitlin told the story to Whiskey Riff. She and her mom were at Disney, and they sat down to watch the Country Bear Jamboree. That’s the old-fashioned show where singing animatronic bears take the stage. Kaitlin hadn’t seen it since she was a little girl.
Partway through, her mom leaned over.
“My mom just nudges me and is like, ‘That is you.'”
She was pointing at Teddi Barra. Teddi is the lady bear in the show.
Kaitlin got it right away. “Oh my God. She is me. I am her.”
Something about that stage clicked for her. “I’m on a stage, and it’s all the red curtains and the show business aspect of it,” she said, “but with bluegrass and country bears and banjo.”
That’s the world of “Hello, Honky Tonk.” The red curtains and the old-time show business feel all trace back to one nudge from Mom in a theme park seat. Kaitlin even pictured the whole album taking place at Skinny Dennis, a honky tonk in Nashville.
She sat down with Country Now to talk about the new album, and the setting alone makes it worth a click, because she talks about it while getting puppy cuddles.
Kaitlin talks about “Hello, Honky Tonk” while holding puppies
It’s a funny thing to think about. A grown woman with three albums already behind her walks into a Disney show she last saw as a kid, and her mom spots her in a singing bear before she does.
The album is out there for anyone who wants to hear what came of that day. One of its songs, “I Wanna Be Bad,” got a national TV spotlight on NBC’s TODAY show, and a fan uploaded the performance, labeled as her Oct 28 appearance, so you can hear a taste of the new record.
Kaitlin sings “I Wanna Be Bad” from the new album on TODAY
So if you hear a little bit of stage curtain and banjo in Kaitlin’s new songs, now you know where it came from. Somewhere at Disney there’s a lady bear named Teddi Barra who has no idea she just inspired a 14-song album, and a mom who’d probably like a little of the credit.