Until recently, Noah Kahan was a big unknown. Suddenly he is everywhere, the singer from Vermont who can sing so beautifully about his uncomfortable attitude, because he comes from the cold northeast of the United States. „I was raised on little light”, sings the 27-year-old superstar in the making in his anthem ‘Northern Attitude’. „Oh, I was raised out in the cold.”
They could have been the words of a lonely singer of sad folk songs, if the lyrics were not passionately sung by thousands of young girls. Noah Kahan has been a TikTok phenomenon ever since he wrote the rudimentary principles of his album StickSeason revealed through the medium. Kahan managed to share his music with the world in small doses, and was nominated as best new artist at the Grammy Awards last year. He didn’t win, but was allowed to walk the red carpet with his mother and now sings his deeply personal songs with stars such as Post Malone, Brandi Carlile and his musical hero Hozier. Olivia Rodrigo covered his ‘Stick Season’ more than beautifully at a BBC session.
Pure and traditional
In six months you can boast that you have seen Noah Kahan in such a nice, intimate venue as the AFAS Live. In August it will be in the Ziggo Dome and everything will be more beautiful, better and bigger there. Not because Kahan presents his music with lots of bells and whistles. His band is pure and traditional, with banjo and mandolin as seasonings in an almost old-fashioned folk rock setting. But the fun is evident and Kahan’s penetrating falsetto singing works as a catalyst for the interaction with the (largely female) audience. He is an Ed Sheeran with balls, a James Blunt without any cringey sentiment and a worthy successor to rocking singer-songwriters such as John Mellencamp and Tom Petty.
Noah Kahan sings about serious matters. That he started therapy at the age of eight, and how little that yielded. About friendship and expectations that sometimes come true, but often don’t. With his vulnerable attitude and self-reflection, he strikes a chord with the fans who sing along to his lyrics from A to Z. Even on an evening when he had to curtail his set list due to a persistent flu and he still appeared on stage while on steroids, he had plenty of charisma and a voice like a bell. Songs like ‘Forever’ and ‘You’re Gonna Go Far’ exude a zest for life. „We’ll all be here forever” is the mantra he gives his audience. No one is forgotten, everyone can participate.
Noah Kahan gave his all on Sunday, the full 72 minutes it took until his voice gave up. The special thing about his rapid flight to the top is that the roles are reversed. Young people discover his music through new media and can take their parents to the next concert with good decency, because Kahan makes mature pop music with more than average depth. A star is born.