Kentucky native and Nashville country music singer Mary Kutter, who grabbed the attention of locals earlier this year with references to a Bardstown area church in the song “Devil’s Money,” is releasing a new album at midnight, Thursday, again with local ties.
Kutter said “Devil’s Money” is just one chapter of her great-grandfather’s story, with the “Bootlegger’s Bible” album to bring the rest of the man’s journey to light. For Henry Offutt, who lived from 1865 to 1929, building New Hope Baptist Church in Springfield was just a small piece of who he was, and after the initial release of the popular single, Kutter is bringing everything full circle.
“The toughest part about it was that there were so many other chapters of his life,” Kutter said. “He was an orphan, rags to riches story, obviously the church, his run-in with the mafia, he lost a son to a drunk driving accident, and then he lost everything whenever the stock market crashed.”
Mary Kutter Where in KY is the church in Mary Kutter’s new country song ‘Devil’s Money?’ Can you guess?
The Nashville singer, who has written songs for stars like Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith, and Alexandra Kay, grew up in Simpsonville. She said while Offutt passed long before she was born, she’s “always felt very connected to him” and her roots.Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“I think it’s probably just hearing his stories and hearing stories about him and talk about some grit…,” Kutter said. “I will say it’s really interesting, the legacy he left behind, I mean, obviously he was doing illegal activity back in the day but also a very religious man which is really interesting, that juxtaposition.”
Kutter continued saying that the new songs completing the album, “Bootstraps,” “Wickland,” “Bardstown” and “Bootlegger’s Bible,” were written in a week and a half before her recent tour, and recorded within a couple of sessions when she returned.
“It was a fast thing but also, I’ve spent my whole life thinking about this,” she said. “I’ve always really admired what this man did with his life and obviously, there’s a lot of layers to that, but it was really, really cool getting to tell his story.”
Intended to be a story-centered conceptual album, Kutter said the writing process for each song varied, having the name of the song “Bootlegger’s Bible” before the lyrics and music. Or in other cases, the opposite.
“‘Bardstown,’ the song about his son passing away, that one is a ballad, but that’s the only ballad on there. The rest of them are pretty high-energy,” Kutter said. “It was one of those things that I think it was definitely very story-centric. Like ‘Wickland’ for example, the entire lyric was written before we ever put the music to it.”
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Kutter, who recently toured and is “ready to get back out on the road” with plans underway for shows in 2025, including the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, said she’s a “lyrics person” and loves “how words can connect people like they do.”
She’s also enjoyed sharing her music through social media and video content, which will continue alongside the upcoming album and feature local Louisville locations.
“It’s been a pretty cool journey,” she said.
“Bootlegger’s Bible” will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, YouTube and other platforms at midnight.
