Tulsa native Kaitlin Butts pulled on her boots, straightened her cowboy hat and faced the crowd at one of the few Oklahoma venues able to claim it helped kickstart Red Dirt country music — Stillwater’s Calf Fry Festival.
“I have so many memories from this place,” she said moments before taking the stage. “I have memories of times that I came here and had too much fun before I was legally supposed to be having too much fun. This place is a home for this community.”
What followed her walk-out to Don Williams’ “Tulsa Time” was an hour-long set that showed off Butts’ dual talents in busting out unapologetic, empowering anthems and slow, emotional tear-jerkers. She also covered “Hunt You Down” by Kesha and “Any Man of Mine” by Shania Twain, an artist she calls one of her musical inspirations.
She performed songs off her 2024 album “Roadrunner!” which is largely inspired by the musical “Oklahoma!” Growing up doing musical theater in Broken Arrow, the Union High School graduate transitioned to performing country music in her teens and later attended Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Songs like “Roadrunner!” and older anthems like “White River” show off her dramatic western storytelling, which she backs up with an animated performance style. Her contagious energy and openness toward sharing stories with the crowd made her set personal.
Before singing “Come Rest Your Head (On My Pillow),” Butts reflected on performing at the Grand Ole Opry and meeting Vince Gill, who is featured on the song, for the first time. The Norman native complimented her performance, making it a standout moment for Butts in her career.
At Calf Fry, Butts showed the crowd her Oklahoma roots and inspirations while also making it a point to thank those who came before. She shouted out Red Dirt musicians like Cody Canada, Stoney LaRue, Mike McClure and Tim Holland, director of the Red Dirt Relief Fund, for their roles in making Stillwater a hub for Red Dirt.
There was a large crowd for Butts, who gained popularity after the song “You Ain’t Gotta Die (to be Dead to Me)” went viral on TikTok. Shortly after, she signed with Republic Records and started working with artists like Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson.
Before Butts took the stage Friday, Tulsa Flyer caught up with her in the backstage artist lounge for a Q&A.
What is it like to come back to Oklahoma and perform in your home state?
Coming back to Oklahoma is always a nostalgic feeling, and I always try to go visit (Eskimo) Joe’s and get all my Oklahoma food and see all my Oklahoma people. It just feels really good to be back.
How much would you say the country music scene in Oklahoma has influenced your own musical journey?
The people here and the songwriters … it’s hard to even diagnose … It’s the community here and their songwriting. They’ve set really good examples for young artists and they’ve also kind of turned around and helped the person that is below them and pulled them up with them. People like Stoney (LaRue), Cody Canada and Mike McClure and all those people.
And I was in a girl band called the Tequila Songbirds, and it was just girl songwriters that had their own thing, and we’d come together. Those girls taught me so much about music, and it really influenced me and taught me how to sing harmonies, told me about John Prine and Gillian Welch and all those things has really influenced me as an artist.
Ella Langley is at the top of the charts right now. What was it like working with her in the “Choosin’ Texas” music video?
That was really cool. Ella asked me to be in that music video, and I didn’t realize that I was gonna have to be a character in it. I mean, people ask me to be in music videos all the time as an extra or just someone kind of in the background of a scene, and I was realizing I was gonna be a little more than that.
So, I was really excited, and she’s the coolest person on this planet. She’s also a huge nerd, and I just feel so comfortable around her. She’s another person that just kind of turns right back around and helps the next one in line.
You’re touring with Langley later this year. What are you looking forward to the most?
I just look forward to the schedule, like the day-to-day life just in her world and also I love taking in how other artists do this. I was just on tour with Lainey Wilson and I thought that I would go and I would leave that tour with questions answered of how she does it, and I just ended up with more questions.
Everything that we see … she does two times more than what we actually see. But it’s cool to see it like the people they surround themselves with and how they operate and just that culture. I look forward to taking that in.
You opened for Wilson in Australia and New Zealand and also toured with her on the West Coast before that. Were there any moments on tour with her that stood out to you?
We started the tour off (as the opener) and ended the tour, too. It was just kind of a full-circle moment there. It just kept getting better and better. Just walking out every night — truly walking out onto that stage — it’s something that you wanted for yourself since you started doing this, and to be in front of her crowd every single night just felt like the best night ever.
And just being included … she’d have me come out with her for her crowd during her show and no one else gets to say that.
As a woman in country music, what’s it been like to have support from so many breakout female artists in the genre right now?
I feel like I’ve always surrounded myself with women because I just feel so close to women. I love hearing women’s stories and I love working with women. We have this unspoken understanding of the extra that we have to do and what it takes that we don’t even have to really talk about or b—h about it sometimes.
It’s nice to just look at somebody and respect what they’ve got in there and then they recognize that within me sometimes. That’s such a cool feeling because it’s such a mutual feeling, like we have something inside of us that just loves to do this and it’s such a cool thing to be included in their stratospheres.
What has changed in your life since “You Ain’t Gotta Die” went viral and you signed with Republic Records?
It’s just got really, really, really busy. Every hour has been accounted for, including today. I remember times when I was trying to make myself busy or like, “How can I be relevant?” And now it’s like things are just coming and flying at me kind of faster than I can even take it, which is a good thing, and it’s everything I’ve ever wanted, and I’m exhausted by it. But I also love, love, love it. It’s what I asked for.
How cool is it for you to be able to share the festival bill with your husband Cleto Cordero from Flatland Cavalry?
Feels good. I like bringing him to the Okie crowd. It’s kind of fun to bring your person back to where you’re from and show them all the little landmarks or take them to places who kind of raised you, and I feel like Calf Fry is a place that raised me.
Do you have plans to return to Tulsa anytime soon?
No, but I’m playing Oklahoma City. I don’t go back to Tulsa very much. But if I do, it’s gonna be a Cain’s Ballroom thing. I go to Tulsa like once a year, but I hope my next show is at Cain’s. It’s the most legendary place I’ve always wanted to play, but you don’t want to play it before you’re ready to, so I’m kind of waiting for that moment.
My dad built the owner of Cain’s house, so I’ve been going to Cain’s since I was a little kid. It was where I saw my first concert. I interned there when I was 15. I would go on New Year’s Eve and watch all the Turnpike (Troubadours) shows and Jason Boland. I remember playing there for the first time with Turnpike and that was insane, but then getting to go back and hopefully headline will be huge.
What’s next for you musically?
I just released the “Yeehaw Sessions.” I’ve been writing for the next thing like a crazy person and recording. I just did vocals for six hours yesterday, which is way too long, but I had to because we’re about to leave for Europe next week, so I was like, we’ve got some songs and I needed to lay some vocals down.
I’m really, really excited for these songs. I think my last album … I’m really proud of it, but I feel like with each thing, we’re building off the last one.
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