Album Review – Kathryn Legendre’s “Here’s Your Honky Tonk”
This is what it’s all about right here folks! The Honky Tonk Sweetheart of Austin, TX is back with a kick ass new country record, and there’s no dipping your toes in, wading up to the knees, then going to the waist and shoulders to get acclimated. This thing is so warm and inviting, you dive right in and immerse yourself immediately in the twangy country music goodness, clever songwriting, and killer instrumentation that only the best country music affords.
Kathryn Legendre’s no trend chaser. She’s been keeping it country for a dozen years or so. And now that everyone else wants to be a honky tonker, she cracks a smile, picks up her guitar, and rips into nine original tracks that show the trend chasers and carpetbaggers how it’s done, tapping into some of the richest talent in Austin to make it happen. So yeah, you want some damn honky tonk music? Well here it is.
Some will try to tell you that traditional country is cheesy, cliché, and boring. Kathryn Legendre and Here’s Your Honky Tonk are here to prove them wrong. She also proves in nine songs just how much variety you can have in country, and still characterize it as traditional. You can have honky tonk scorchers like the opening song “Tailing Eighteen Wheelers,” Outlaw songs like the title track, authentic Western Swing like “The Day I Smoke a J with Ray [Benson],” or more sentimental tracks like “I Never Liked The Rain.”
Whatever a song called for, it got from Katheryn and her team of co-producers and pickers that included beau Brian Broussard (of Mayeux & Brossard fame), guitarist Will Walden, and Patrick Herzfeld. If she was going to do a Western Swing song, she wasn’t going to do an approximation. Working with folks like fiddler Jason Roberts and steel guitarist Dave Biller, they did a real deal Western Swing song with Ray Benson himself chiming in. Sure, pot songs can be silly, but this was a smart concept for a Western Swing song.
Like the best of traditional country artists, Katheryn Legendre doesn’t shy away from the cliché. She embraces it, is self-aware of it, and utilizes it to her advantage. Who doesn’t feel like they’re stuck in the traffic of life, only inching forward at best like is captured in “Tailing Eighteen Wheelers”? “Best Western Breakdown” is excellent classic country songwriting, calling on a cultural landmark everyone can relate to, and creating a story of heartbreak from it. And “Tear Your World Apart” even reference how cliché it is to bellyache about a heartbreak. But hey, we’ve all been there. That’s why we love country music.
Katheryn Legendre is a regular of the honky tonks in Austin and the surrounding area. She held her album release show at the famed White Horse, and Silverada showed up to support. Working full-time in Austin’s music industry, she still finds time for regular gigs nightly, and opens shows for national touring acts as they swing through Texas. This has made Legendre a distinctly Austin name with a decidedly national impact.
The best country music emerges when a performer doesn’t overthink it, is patient in allowing the best songs to come to them over time, and then is uncompromising in finding the best players. It’s not rocket science, but a sincere passion for the music that results in great country. This is what Katheryn Legendre displays in Here’s Your Honky Tonk.
8.1/10
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Purchase from Katheryn Legendre
June 29, 2025 @ 7:19 pm
Wait what? Silverada showed up at the tiny White Horse to support?! That’s crazy. The two songs posted are more than enough for me to dive into the deep end. That’s damn country music right there.
June 30, 2025 @ 5:59 am
That must have been, dare I say, Legendre-y
June 30, 2025 @ 4:29 pm
I’m going to my first Mike and The Moonpies(refuse to call them Silverada lol) concert this Friday @ Billy Bobs! Nice to see they support real country music!
June 30, 2025 @ 12:45 am
Thanks for bringing this artist and album to my attention—I ordered Here’s Your Honky Tonk on CD before the first song had even finished playing. Immediately engaging and very likable music.
And I’m hoping to hear more soon from other modern honky tonkers like Channing Wilson and Ellis Bullard, both of whom I also learned about on this excellent website—Dead Man Walking and Honky Tonk Ain’t Noise Pollution are often-spun gems in my home that need follow ups…
July 3, 2025 @ 9:02 am
Yay, another Channing Wilson supporter! Dead Man Walking is a criminally underrated album.
June 30, 2025 @ 6:07 am
I’ve been a big Katheryn Legendre fan forever. It’s a shame that many will be just discovering her considering her last album was in 2013 with a couple EPs in 2016 and 2019. Like Kristina Murray who was featured here a couple weeks ago, it’s been a long wait for this album, but it’s well worth it. Legendre keeps to what she does best and I’m loving the album.
There’s a reason they call her Legendary, and this album and support from the likes of Silverada prove it true. Hope everyone checks this album out and support Katheryn in keeping it real country. Thanks.
June 30, 2025 @ 10:20 am
After Trig put the title track in his playlist, which I loved, I was keeping an eye on the release date, and I’ve been weaving this album into the morning rotation opposite Hailey Whitters, and it’s fitting quite nicely, I must say. I’d like to thank Kathryn for keeping it a tight 9 songs and leaving me wanting more. I hope some artists/record companies will learn from this.
July 1, 2025 @ 10:38 am
To be honest, I think an album should be ten songs minimum, or call itself an EP 😁
July 1, 2025 @ 12:29 pm
I didn’t mention calling it an album or an EP those lines are extremely blurred these days. Who makes the final decision on what a group of songs is called in 2025 Trigger? I listen to EPs all the time in my rotation, so I’d have no problem with that. Maybe the length of the songs should also matter? Many many albums, especially from the past, only on vinyl etc… have less than 10 songs. Point being I’ll take 9 or 10 good songs over 17 I’m going to have to sift through no matter what they call it.
July 1, 2025 @ 12:37 pm
I think the general industry practice is to call anything 7 songs or less an EP, and anything 8 songs or more and LP at this point. There have actually been quite a few 9 song albums lately. I wouldn’t personally take issue with calling “Here’s Your Honky Tonk” an LP.
June 30, 2025 @ 4:23 pm
What an album! Stone cold country, great voice! 8.5/10
July 23, 2025 @ 9:50 am
Album kicks butt! Love her.