There’s no better place to reveal a record called Hello, Honky Tonk than a honky tonk. This week, Tulsa-born singer/songwriter Kaitlin Butts enlisted honky tonks around the globe to unveil the track listing for her highly anticipated fourth studio album, Hello, Honky Tonk, out October 30 via Republic Records. Pre-save Hello, Honky Tonk HERE.
Beginning Monday this week, a different honky tonk or legendary music venue unveiled a new song from the album each day, turning the track-listing announcement into an international bar crawl through the world Butts created for Hello, Honky Tonk. From Nashville and Tulsa to Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Sydney and London, the daily reveals have brought the album’s complete 14-song track listing into that neon light.
The venues participating in the weeklong reveal include some of the most iconic honky tonks and live music rooms in the country and abroad, including Billy Bob’s Texas, Cain’s Ballroom, the Grand Ole Opry, Luckenbach Texas, John T. Floore’s Country Store, Skinny Dennis and the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, as well as Sydney’s Jolene’s and London’s Duke’s of Highgate.
“Hello, Honky Tonk is really a world of its own,” says Butts. “There are all these characters and stories and little moments happening inside of it, so I thought it would be fun to let the places that inspired that world introduce the songs. Honky tonks are where these stories live, so who better to tell you what’s coming?”
After a week of daily reveals, the complete list of participating honky tonks and venues include: Billy Bob’s Texas, Fort Worth, TX, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa, OK, Grand Ole Opry, Nashville, TN, Luckenbach Texas, Luckenbach, TX, Showboat Saloon, Wisconsin Dells, WI, Jolene’s, Sydney, Australia, Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, Jackson, WY, Tower Theatre, Oklahoma City, OK, John T. Floore’s Country Store, Helotes, TX, Skinny Dennis, Nashville, TN, Harry’s Northgate, College Station, TX, Duke’s of Highgate, London, England, Brewster Street, Corpus Christi, TX and The Newberry, Great Falls, MT.
The track listing reveal follows a string of new music from Hello, Honky Tonk, including “What More Could You Want,” which Country Central says, “two-steps towards something that feels built for props and blocking in a musical” along with tracks “I Wanna Be Bad” and “Never Really Mine.” The recently released “What More Could You Want” is a languid, Broadway-ready piano ballad and autobiographical sketch of a performer questioning how much more she has to give.
“That song feels exactly word for word what I feel like every day,” says Butts. “This tug and pull of loving this and craving this and loving to be on stage, loving every creative moment but also being stressed out wondering, ‘Do you like me? Do I need to be shinier? Do you want more?’”
Named one of Rolling Stone’s most anticipated albums for 2026, Hello, Honky Tonk is a love letter to the honky tonks and nightlife that have shaped Butts while becoming a huge part of her life on the road. Recorded in Nashville with producer Tofer Brown (Carter Faith, Willow Avalon, Little Big Town), the album brings to life a bar like no other, populated by a cast of characters listeners might recognize from the dance floor, behind the bar or from the corner booth.
Inspired in part by the vaudeville vignettes of Chicago and Disney World’s Country Bear Musical Jamboree, Butts envisioned Hello, Honky Tonk as a place where all of these characters could coexist.
“The thought behind the concept was how in Chicago, the character Roxie Hart is dreaming up what her show would look like and all the people in it,” says Butts. “I picture all of this happening at Skinny Dennis here in Nashville. These are all the different people in the room. There's the bar fight that's happening. There's the bad girl that just got off work. There's me being the entertainer. There are so many people that really love the nightlife. It’s a connector for people.”
The album continues the momentum of Butts’ critically acclaimed Roadrunner! in 2024, a bold reimagining inspired by Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! that 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 celebrate the release of Hello, Honky Tonk with her Hello, Honky Tonk Live and In Person Tour, kicking off October 29 at Nashville’s Skinny Dennis before continuing with stops across Texas and Oklahoma in December. Her performance at Skinny Dennis sold out in four hours. Tickets for the remaining shows are available at kaitlinbutts.com.
HELLO, HONKY TONK LIVE AND IN PERSON TOUR DATES
Oct. 29 — Nashville, TN — Skinny Dennis SOLD OUT
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
For the latest news, music and tour dates, visit kaitlinbutts.com and follow @kaitlinbutts on Instagram and Facebookand @kaitlinbuttsmusic on TikTok.
