In our latest cover story, we trace Noah Kahan's rise from Vermont open mic'er to one of Gen Z's most popular artists
It’s hard to imagine now that he’s one of the most buzzed-about artists in popular music, but Noah Kahan was ready to walk away from it all just a few years ago. He almost called it quits in the summer of 2020 while sitting at his mother’s kitchen table in Vermont, where the singer-songwriter had mulled over a number of life developments in the past.
Post Malone, Kacey Musgraves, Lizzy McAlpine, and Gracie Abrams all appeared on reworked versions of his songs, and Zach Bryan invited him to sing on one of his ownBeyond becoming Vermont’s greatest musical export since Phish, Kahan found himself tapped as the face of a new generation of guitar-toting singer-songwriters. He even collaborated with L.L. Bean on a -inspired apparel collection, and by the end of last year, he was seemingly unstoppable.
By the time he was in high school, Kahan gained a reputation as the “local music guy.” One of his songs, on which he collaborated with older kids in town, became an anthem of sorts and was played before basketball games and his school dance. He performed at open mics and started posting his music to YouTube and SoundCloud, hoping to be heard but never expecting to be discovered.
What followed was quite a blur. Within a week of signing with Simmons, Noah recorded demos in Los Angeles and was in New York showcasing for labels not long after. Republic offered a contract the same day they auditioned him, meaning he went from posting his songs online to becoming labelmates with Ariana Grande, Lorde, and the Weeknd in the span of a month.
After waiting a year, Noah’s first single was released in 2017. He left Vermont, set up shop in Nashville, and fell into a cycle of working with different songwriters, which he found creatively stifling and uncomfortable. At the end of each day, he’d go home and write alone. Still, the EP arrived in early 2018, with its Julia Michaels-featuring title track becoming a minor hit both in the U.S. and abroad.
Committed to writing in a style that was more true to himself, he came up with the Hozier-influenced “Maine” and four additional tunes that eventually comprised the “I didn’t care it reached 10 million less people,” he says, thinking “if I could have a career making this kind of shit, I’ll be so fucking happy.
Additional A-list collaborations followed suit: “Call Your Mom” featured McAlpine, Musgraves lent a hand on “She Calls Me Back,” and most recently, Abrams jumped on a new version of “Everywhere, Everything.” As excited as he was to reimagine his songs with such great company, joining forces with Hozier was a literal dream come true. interview, and they eventually met at a festival last August. “I guess I manifested it,” he says with a laugh. “He is behind everything I love about music.
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