The Ocean singer (along with countless other folk hits) will join a longtime friend in Missy Higgins, Dan Sultan, and breakout talent Stella Donnelly at A Day On The Green in Rutherglen next weekend.

It’s the kind of gig where Butler feels right at home, even if it’s not necessarily a closed-in, intimate indoor space.

The beautiful open spaces of All Saints Estate will suit Butler, whose latest album Home is a reflection on the many confronting issues Butler had managed to avoid over the years – notably what he described as a “distilled technicolour coat of anxiety”. 

“I have been dealing with anxiety on and off for ages, but hadn’t always been able to name it,” he said.

“I used to think it was just a grumpy or overwhelmed d---head reaction to the stresses of modern life and touring.” 

It was a move back to his home in Western Australia that prompted some lingering feeling to bubble to the surface.

For years, Butler had utilised his busy lifestyle – constantly touring and writing, running his own studio, as a means to avoid confronting what he knew to be true deep down.

“I usually go to great pains to avoid those feelings; hence the workaholic control freak who has his own band, his own label, his own studio,” he said.

“It was in this fractured state that I started trying to wrangle this new mob of songs - wild horses I’d met over the last four years.” 

Fortunately for Butler, music continued to be an overwhelmingly positive influence in his life.

“Music has always been therapy, and making this album was therapeutic,” he said.

“Music pushes me out of my comfort zone, it can bring up some insecurities, that anxiety and existential wondering about who I am.

“I think everybody is the same in that respect.”