Songcraft · Scott B. Bomar, Paul Duncan

Ep. 276 - JENNA ANDREWS & STEPHEN KIRK ("Butter")

April 1, 2026·1 hr 2 min·4 clips

Stephen Kirk describes the exact moment Jenna Andrews sang 'smooth like butter' and he nearly flipped his desk.

Butter starts the trail. Scott and Paul introduce Jenna Andrews and Stephen Kirk as professional and life partners, with credits that run through BTS, K-pop Demon Hunters, and modern pop. The first part stays easy and conversational. The interview keeps coming back to a plain working rule: serve the song and the artist, and do not polish away the thing that makes a voice feel alive. BTS is the clearest example. Jenna and Stephen describe studying the members, listening back to older vocal tones, and treating personality as part of the sound instead of something separate from it. That is the good bit here. A line can be clean and still lose its charge. Their job is to keep the charge. Butter already had shape when they came in. The track and chorus melody were there, so the work became preparation, taste, and knowing when the room had something. Scott mentions the song's 10 weeks at number one, then wisely lets the conversation stay with craft rather than applause. The episode makes vocal production feel less like gear talk and more like care. The producer has to make the artist comfortable, protect the song, and still chase the record. Stephen starts giving Jenna credit for what she brought into the room, which fits the partnership thread Paul and Scott keep tugging on. The mood is warm all the way through. Even the goodbye feels gracious, with the guests saying the questions sound like they came from musicians. Then Songcraft eases back into its usual housekeeping, pointing listeners toward subscribing and finding the show online.

As heard by us

A grounded Songcraft conversation about shaping "Butter" around BTS's voices, personalities, and the demands of a major pop single.

Songcraft uses Jenna Andrews and Stephen Kirk's work on BTS's "Butter" to get at a practical question: how do songwriters and producers serve a star act without sanding away what makes the performers distinct?

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Why you'd press play

For the backstory behind a hit that spent 10 weeks at number one on the Billboard pop chart in 2021.

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