Based on the track Jackson, Kaitlin Butts is with us today (Ann Powers is equally responsible for her compelling copy, cited below). Red-headed young country singers may be a dime a dozen and sometimes end up at the bottom of the remainder bin, dead letter post office basement, Iowa City, Idaho. Yet, Kaitlin seems made of titanium on the exterior, with a vulnerable kind inside. Kaitlin’s belted vocals have hard-won small victories that transcend remainder bins. We may be taking a risky chance on this artist, but we believe our risk has a positive return shortly when the rest of the quality listening world catches up with Durham Cool and Ann Powers.
Every year needs its honky tonk queen. Seven years after her excellent debut album Same Hell, Different Devil, red-haired Oklahoman Kaitlin Butts dons that sequined cowboy hat. As a songwriter, Butts enjoys a classic turn of phrase — the mournful “Jackson” turns Johnny and June’s hot romance into a disappointed heartache — but excels in getting inside the heads of those ordinary people other writers often overly romanticize. The album’s title track is like a Robert Altman movie come to life, its waitress protagonist, a dignified dreamer, worn out by her limited options. “She’s Using” blends Butts’ wit and her blunt insight into one stark tale of addiction. Butts delivers these hard-knock stories in a keening voice that would devastate on much cornier material, the human equivalent of the high lonesome pedal steel Justin Schipper plays throughout.
Kaitlin Butts – Jackson (Live at The Basement in Nashville)
Kaitlin Butts “Jackson” (Official Lyric Video)
Listen to “Jackson” now: https://go.kaitlinbutts.com/WECSDa
Kaitlin Butts “Jackson” (Official Lyric Video)
© & ℗ Kaitlin Butts. All Rights Reserved.
Written by Kaitlin Butts
Illustrated/Animated by Andrew Knives @andrewknives
Lyrics:
He said I’m saving up to buy you a diamond
Said it won’t be much but I’ll get you one soon
I thought we’d be married in a fever
Thought we’d ride off like Johnny and June
But I don’t think we’ll make it to Jackson
No I don’t think we’ll make it that far
No I don’t think we’ll make it to Jackson
As long as you keep breaking my heart
Empty promises around every corner
I can barely see the light in your eyes
You say you’re wrong and you say you’ll change
But your heartbreak lips remain the same
And they’re too good at tellin’ lies
It takes a lot of pain and time
To change a woman’s mind
And you crossed that line
So I don’t think we’ll make it to Jackson
No I don’t think we’ll make it that far
No I don’t think we’ll make it to Jackson
As long as you keep breaking my heart
It takes a lot of pain and time
To change a woman’s mind
And you crossed that line
So I don’t think we’ll make it to Jackson
No I don’t think we’ll make it that far
No I don’t think we’ll make it to Jackson
As long as you keep breaking my heart
No I don’t think we’ll make it to Jackson
No I don’t think we’ll make it that far
No I don’t think we’ll make it to Jackson
As long as you keep breaking
Oh my heart
Yeah
He said I’m saving up to buy you a diamond
Music
SONG
Jackson
ARTIST
Kaitlin Butts
ALBUM
What Else Can She Do
LICENSES
The Orchard Music (on behalf of Kaitlin Butts); Me Gusta Music (Publishing), BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., and 1 Music Rights Societies
Kaitlin Butts – It Won’t Always Be This Way | The Next Waltz Live! from The MusicFest 2018
Kaitlin Butts performs “It Won’t Always Be This Way” for The Next Waltz Live! from The MusicFest at Steamboat 2018.
Songwriter Reacts: Kaitlin Butts – Blood