Tulsa-born singer-songwriter Kaitlin Butts has released a new song “Never Really Mine,” available now via Republic Records. The track marks her first new music since The Yeehaw Sessions, the 2025 EP that followed her signing with Republic Records in October 2025. The release also gives fans a new original song before Butts’ CMA Fest debut in Nashville.
Butts wrote “Never Really Mine” with Maggie Antone and Lola Kirke after an exchange at a festival in Austin. Butts said someone called out to her husband while the couple was walking backstage, which led to a conversation with a friend about trust and security in a relationship. “A man that can be taken from me was never really mine,” Butts said of the idea behind the song. She added that Antone and Kirke helped shape the track during a Sunday writing session in Nashville.
The song centers on the same phrase Butts used backstage, turning the idea into a chorus about confidence, boundaries, and letting go. The release arrives ahead of a busy CMA Fest weekend for Butts in Nashville. She is set to perform on the Chevy Riverfront Stage on Saturday, June 6 at 4 p.m., followed by a Nissan Stadium Platform Stage set at 9 p.m. She is also scheduled for Billboard Country Live at Category 10 on Friday, June 5, during the festival weekend.
The announcement follows Butts’ appearance on Willow Avalon’s 2026 song “Hypothetically Speaking” and its official video. Earlier this spring, Butts appeared in Ella Langley’s video for “Choosin’ Texas” and co-directed and wrote the treatment for Flatland Cavalry’s “Unglued.” She recently wrapped the sold-out headlining European Cowgirl Experience, which included Highways Festival at London’s Royal Albert Hall and dates in Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast, and Dublin. In 2025, The Yeehaw Sessions included versions of Chappell Roan’s “Red Wine Supernova,” Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle,” The Chicks’ “Sin Wagon,” and Don Williams’ “Tulsa Time.”
