Kaitlin Butts in Aspen
The day started off with some mindless scrolling, which is usually not the best way to start. Today was different though. One of my favorite musicians added a story to her IG advertising a pop up show she was doing in Aspen. I’m pretty sure I literally yelled out “Holy fucking Shit!” I immediately cleared my calendar and reached out to her management team asking for the opportunity to once again shoot one of her shows. Permission granted! As I made the 3 hour drive to Aspen excitement was my co pilot and my usual passengers, nerves and imposter syndrome, didn’t seem to make the trip. With this being the second time I have covered Butts, I felt like a pro going into this show.
I arrived to the venue early to get my bearings and scope out the scene. The scene: upscale. This shouldn’t have been much of a surprise since Aspen is where Hollywood goes skiing. The show was to be played at the St. Regis where they have a spot called the Jade Room. Yes the walls are covered in jade tapestries and western decor hung from them to fit Butts’ style of music. When I saw her enter the room, the butterflies and excitement started to rise up in me. The crowd? For all they knew she was a cocktail waitress late for work. She pulled out her guitar, began to tune it, and once it was where she wanted it to be, she stepped in front of the mic. Of course there was some clapping and cheers but it was the kind you give because you know it’s polite. As the first song played you could still here the crowd trying to talk over her. However, with each note, each lyric, and each song, she began to win them over. Once her set was over, I was escorting her to an area where we could do a quick photo shoot, we were cornered by her new fans wanting pictures and asking all sorts of questions. It is safe to say that before the evening started not many, if any knew the name Kaitlin Butts, but by the end of it she definitely had some new Spotify followers.
