Doors: | 7pm // Show: | 8pm
Seasons change. Places change. People change. As Noah Kahan changes, he casts those experiences onto songs like light through a film projector. At the core of the music’s upbeat energy and unfiltered lyrics, you’ll hear who he was before and who he became—almost in real-time. The Vermont singer still pens songs straight from the heart and still cracks jokes with his signature, self-deprecating sense of humor; he’s just changed in all of the right ways (and chronicled them via his songwriting).
The critically acclaimed singer and songwriter simply took two years of milestones and transformed them into his upcoming second full-length album, I Was // I Am. “While writing this record, I’ve taken stock of who I am as compared to who I was when I started and what that means, for better or worse. I do have some perspective. I’ve also lost a lot. I’ve lost people close to me for different reasons. I’ve lost friendships. I lost my dog. Those experiences haven’t necessarily hardened me, but they’ve made me incredibly grateful for what I have now. The biggest change is a little bit of clarity in terms of who I am and the person I want to end up being. The songs on the record represent a new understanding of myself,” he says.
He gained that understanding through quite the journey from small town Vermont to global renown. He’s racked up over one billion streams, released his full-length debut album Busyhead, picked up a Gold Certification for “Hurt Somebody” feat. Julia Michaels, and performed on television shows such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and TODAY. His 2020 Cape Elizabeth EP received widespread critical acclaim, and not to mention, he’s collaborated with everyone from Chelsea Cutler to mxmtoon to Quinn XCII to Gryffin. In the fall of 2020, he headed to Los Angeles in order to record with engineer Mark Rankin (in person) and his Busyhead collaborator and Grammy Award-winning producer Joel Little. Together, they tracked the bulk of the record during this trip.
Preserving his commitment to vivid lyricism, he kickstarted the music with faster tempos and sweeping hooks, recharging the overall vision. His first single “Part of Me” perfectly encapsulates that sentiment. As handclaps and guitar ring out, the intimate verses drive towards a sweeping and soaring refrain as he tries to grasp a fleeting moment, “Got so close to love with you my dear, but I don’t miss you, I miss the way you made me feel.”
Then, there’s “Animal” where his falsetto skates over head-bobbing handclaps and a slick beat. “Someone Like You” sways with Noah’s soulful vocals towards another chantable refrain. “It’s about immediate regret,” he goes on. “When you lose someone in a relationship, you don’t really understand that the person is gone. You’re never going to have exactly that again.”
For as much as he may have changed, Noah’s goal stays the same. “I still want to be able to connect to folks in the way I do and value when I listen to music,” he leaves off. “Change is something you can learn from. It’s never too late to be a better person and to move forward. Always work on yourself and give yourself a fucking break every once in a while. I hope listeners feel like there’s more to learn about me, just like I do when I listen to my favorite artists. I also hope they’re happy to stay along for the ride, because I’ve been so grateful for them so far.”
The smaller the town, the bigger the story… Good luck finding cell service in singer-songwriter Noah Kahan’s tiny hometown of Strafford, Reception is nearly non-existent, but that doesn’t seem to bother the 1,000 residents that call this peaceful countryside hamlet home. The town’s sentiment of relishing in isolation is evident at the Kahan household, a 133 acre tree farm at the end of a steep dirt road, nestled in the rolling Vermont hills. The weather is harsh at times, idyllic at others, and a constant exercise in extremes. The seclusion provokes imagination but also imposes an earnestness that's rooted in Noah’s music and perspective. Of his songwriting and his surroundings, Kahan explains “My music plays on an introspective space. I've learned about the realities of being in the real world but being in the countryside holds a lot of nostalgia for me. I try to capture that. I’m just telling stories while being heartfelt. Small town wonderment led Noah to explore songwriting early on, emulating musical influences like Paul Simon, Ben Howard, and The Lumineers. He writes with thought-provoking realism about self-doubt and fear while highlighting the intricacies of relationships with an unpolished sincerity. That approach, along with head-turning vocals, has brought Noah a long way from Strafford in a very short time. As a senior in high school, Noah’s unique take on the world and his knack for crafting a captivating story attracted the attention of world-class songwriters Dan Wilson (Adele), Scott Harris (Shawn Mendes), Chris DeStefano (Carrie Underwood), among others. Word spreads quickly within the songwriting community and Noah soon became a welcomed collaborator of its inner circle. In 2016, the 20-year-old attracted GRAMMY® Award-winning super producer Joel Little (Lorde, Khalid). The two recorded six songs together which have since been released periodically throughout 2017 via Republic Records. Debut single“Young Blood” entered Spotify’s US Viral Chart at #5, and quickly cracked over 9 million streams. “Joel really pushed the music to a level that I never imagined it could go,” continues Noah. “He saw that the songs needed to be special. He really helped me achieve a unique sound. We wrote so much together, and we found an amazing groove.” They honed that groove to perfection on the break out single “Hurt Somebody.” Propelled by lithe acoustic guitars, an unpredictable rhythm, and an impressive vocal range, the song was immediately showcased on Spotify in its coveted New Music Friday Playlist. Gaining steam, “Hurt Somebody” amassed over 1.4 million streams in less than a week, appeared on the global viral charts, and earned acclaim from Billboard who wrote, “It allows the songwriter to showcase his ability to blend mature themes with a folk-pop twist.” “Being worried about how hard it is to end something can paralyze you,” Noah explains. “It’s a universal feeling. Pulling off the band-aid in a relationship or any situation is never easy. It means a lot to conjure the strength to call it quits. You can apply it to many different things—whether it’s romance or a work opportunity. ‘Hurt Somebody’ illuminates how the worry almost paralyzes you. It’s a personal experience where I was worried about hurting someone else, and I couldn’t end a situation because of it.”
