“Making a go of it in music takes an almost incomprehensible amount of determination. Oklahoma singer-songwriter Kaitlin Butts has more than her share, to the point that she’s been able to imbue her characters with a stubborn resolve to keep pushing, despite odds seemingly never in their favor.”
“On her latest album, What Else Can She Do, Butts combines these tough-luck fighters, her admirably big voice, and a bit of outside-the-box musicianship to give us one of the best country records of the year.”
[of “in the pines’] “Butts’ take on the traditional tune features a cosmic swirl of guitar and steel, topped off with a vocal torrent that will remind you of Kurt Cobain’s ‘Unplugged’ howl.”

"With WECSD, Butts explores the darker sides of life, where once-cherished bonds are reduced to entanglements and alienation. Options exhaust themselves in the title track; family ties wilt in “blood”; feckless optimism paralyzes in “it won’t always be this way”; the loveless spouse’s heart yearns for another in “bored if i don’t”. While the subject matter might be uncomfortable, it’s no doubt universal. These are the songs you sing the loudest when no one’s around."

“For a long time, my mom and I were going through some hard times. She was going through a divorce, and we kept getting what I like to call ‘clotheslined’ by life. We kept trying to be positive and we’d say ‘it won’t always be this way’ and by the time we’d get some traction again, we’d get the rug pulled out from under us again. That pattern took place for a pretty long time, but the phrase ‘it won’t always be this way’ remained. We said it so often without things changing for the better, that it became this really sad thing we would say. So I wrote this song about wanting to, but not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Taking my personal experience out of it, the song is about a mother wanting to take her daughter out of a bad situation. The depression and uncertainty that all of that comes with. The promise to her daughter that it won’t always be this way.” — Kaitlin Butts

"Country singer Kaitlin Butts will release a new album, What Else Can She Do, on April 15 via Soundly Music. Following the recently released ballad ‘blood’ comes the more upbeat, rock-tinged ‘It Won't Always Be This Way.’”

This week on the Whiskey Riff New Music Friday Playlist, we have new tunes from Hailey Whitters, Randall King, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Ray Fulcher, Hardy, Wheeler Walker Jr., Vincent Neil Emerson, Jewel, Eric Paslay, Deborah Allen, Carrie Underwood, Jesse Daniel, Kaitlin Butts, William Beckmann, Elle King and more.

This week we’re featuring new releases from Hailey Whitters, Carrie Underwood, Elle King, Nate Smith + Tenille Townes, Kaitlin Butts, Sam Outlaw, Katie Pederson, Cody Belew, Molly Tuttle + Old Crow Medecine Show, Geneviève Racette and lots more. Be sure to follow our New Music Friday playlist for the latest releases from over a thousand country artists all across the genre and let us know what you’ve got on repeat this week.

"Blood," Kaitlin Butts
“heartwrenching”

“It’s no secret that she’s one of the best vocalists in the game right now, with lyrics so compelling that you can quite literally picture the scenes in your head like a movie.”
"immaculate"