Noah Kahan

Noah Kahan (born January 1, 1997) is an American singer-songwriter who signed to Republic Records in 2017. His breakthrough single "Hurt Somebody", achieved gold status in the United States and charted in multiple international markets. The single and EP of the same name preceded the release of his debut album Busyhead (2018). Within 5 years, two more albums would follow: I Was / I Am (2021) and Stick Season (2022), the latter of which would go on to be his mainstream commercial breakthrough.

Biography

Early life

Kahan was born in Strafford, Vermont. Kahan is of Jewish descent through his father. He attended Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire. Kahan began writing songs at age 8 and uploaded them to SoundCloud and YouTube where his music began to gain exposure. Kahan says that the first job he ever had was working as a valet at a hotel, where he was later fired for crashing a car.

At age 17, Kahan began working with school friend music producers (Cwenga Matanzima). This attracted the attention of his current manager Drew Simmons of Foundations Artist Management. His music also caught the attention of songwriters such as Dan Wilson known for his work with Adele, Scott Harris, and Carrie Underwood, among others. Kahan deferred his admission to Tulane University to pursue his developing music career. Kahan has said that two career goals he wished for were to be verified on Instagram and to have a Wikipedia page.Both of these goals he has accomplished.

Kahan cites some of his inspirations as Paul Simon, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Counting Crows, Hozier, and Mumford & Sons.

Kahan has opened up about his struggles with anxiety and depression and has talked extensively about how his struggles with these disorders have affected his life. He has spoken about how writing about these topics has proved to be therapeutic for him.

"I've been struggling with anxiety and depression for as long as I can remember," Kahan told an Australian news outlet. "I didn't know what it was until I got into high school. Then, when I started releasing music and seeing it connect with others, I realised it wasn't something I had to be ashamed of and that people were actually connecting to my music. So it's a real thing and it's a really hard thing I have to deal with all the time and it sucks, and it's shitty. Sometimes it feels like everyone around me is doing well and I feel like I'm kind of missing something. But what's great is music gives me an outlet to express it and it helps other people. So [anxiety] has its ups and downs."

2017–2019: Busyhead

In 2016, Kahan signed to Republic Records and he began working with producer Joel Little, known for his work with Lorde and Khalid, with whom he recorded six songs. Kahan released his first single "Young Blood" on January 27, 2017, and gained over 9 million streams.

On September 15, 2017, Kahan released "Hurt Somebody", the lead single from his forthcoming debut extended play of the same name. "Hurt Somebody" was re-recorded later in 2017 featuring Grammy Award-nominated artist Julia Michaels. Hurt Somebody was released in January 2018.

On April 8, 2019, Kahan announced his debut full-length studio album entitled Busyhead and included the duet version of "Hurt Somebody" as well as two other singles "False Confidence" and "Mess". It was released on June 14, 2019.

2020–2021: Cape Elizabeth EP and I Was / I Am

On April 30, 2020, Kahan announced on his Instagram that he would drop an EP at midnight. He then dropped Cape Elizabeth. The album was recorded over one week at Kahan's friend Phin Choukas' home studio in Vermont exactly one week after Kahan left New York City in March to avoid COVID-19. Cape Elizabeth was then released on May 1, 2020.

On June 17, 2021, Kahan announced his second full-length album titled I Was / I Am. Five days later, he announced the I Was / I Am Tour. On September 17, 2021, the album was released. Throughout the summer leading up to the release of the album, Kahan released "Part of Me", "Godlight", and "Animal" as singles ahead of the album drop. "Part of Me" was the only one of the three singles to be dropped before the album announcement.

2022–present: Stick Season and commercial breakthrough

Over the course of almost two years, Kahan began teasing the song "Stick Season". The song became a fan favorite, further growing in popularity on social media app TikTok. The song was released on July 8, 2022, and became Kahan's highest-charting song in the United States so far, peaking at number 2 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and number 12 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. The song also became his first number-one song on adult alternative radio in early 2023, and additionally reached the top 25 at alternative radio.

On September 14, 2022, Kahan announced that his third studio album Stick Season would be released exactly a month from the announcement. The 14-track album was produced by Gabe Simon and includes 10 songs self-written by Kahan, with additional writing contributions from Iain Archer and Todd Clark. Kahan wrote this album during the pandemic which he spent back home in Vermont. Stick Season leans more into the folk genre than the rest of his older music which were more pop sounding. Kahan says that in this new album, he wanted to pay homage to the folk singers that he grew up listening to.

The release of the promotional single "Northern Attitude" preceded the album on September 30, 2022; the song peaked at number 30 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. The album was released to critical acclaim, with AP News commenting "there's irony there because these feel like songs both longtime listeners and newer fans will want to belt back to Kahan — not because they're produced for stadiums or arenas, but because they're full of nostalgic melodies that will resonate far beyond New England." The album debuted at number 14 on the US Billboard 200 selling 17,000 units in its opening week, becoming his first album to chart. The album's second single, "Homesick", was released to adult alternative radio on February 13, 2023, and peaked top 5 at the format as well as number 36 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. On that chart, three other songs from the album – "Growing Sideways", "All My Love", and "Orange Juice", reached numbers 40, 41, and 43 respectively.

Kahan toured extensively with the album through 2022 and 2023; he performed three sold-out legs of his headlining Stick Season Tour, which included stops at venues like Radio City Music Hall in New York City and Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado. He also opened for Dermot Kennedy's arena tour in the United Kingdom in the spring of 2023. He performed tracks from the album on multiple televised occasions; he performed "Stick Season" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Kelly Clarkson Show, and "Homesick" on Today.

On May 25, 2023, Kahan announced the release of the album's deluxe edition, subtitled Stick Season (We'll All Be Here Forever). The deluxe reissue featured an additional seven songs and coincided with the standard edition's release on vinyl. Upon release, the deluxe edition earned over 10 million streams on global Spotify.

In July 2023, Kahan released "Dial Drunk" with Post Malone. On social media, Kahan described this collaboration as a "full circle moment" and a "dream come true," having covered Malone's song "Congratulations" towards the start of his career in 2017. The song was released to adult alternative radio and alternative radio on June 12 and 13, 2023, respectively, as the album's third radio single.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

Tours

Headlining

• The Busyhead Tour (2019)
• The I Was / I Am Tour (2021)
• The Stick Season Tour (2022–2023)

Opening act

• Ben Folds and Anderson East (2017)
• Milky Chance (2017)
• The Strumbellas (2017)
• George Ezra – The Staying at Tamara's Tour (2018)
• Dean Lewis (2018–2019)
• James Bay – The Electric Light Tour (2019)
• Dermot Kennedy – The Sonder Tour (2023)