Noah Kahan opens up about ‘one of the central struggles’ of his music career

Like other recent breakout artists, Noah Kahan had been making music for many years when his song “Stick Season” went viral on social media. He started teasing it in snippets on TikTok in October 2020, but it wasn’t released in full until July 2022.

By the time his folk-pop album, also called Stick Season, came out, he was a social media sensation. That lead single now has more than 1.2 billion listens on Spotify, and he has collaborated with major artists like Post Malone, Kacey Musgraves and Hozier on songs that take on mental health and small-town life in Vermont.

Kahan just wrapped his sold-out “We’ll All Be Here Forever Tour” and is currently slowing down a bit ahead of a special performance with American Express on Nov. 30 in honor of Small Business Saturday. Yahoo Entertainment spoke with him ahead of the show.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Your recent Fenway Park performances in Boston were iconic, but this Charleston, S.C., concert you’re putting on with American Express is going to be so much more intimate. Are you getting ready for it in a different way?

Yeah, we are, actually. We’re going to play some songs we don’t usually play, some more stripped-back music and we’ll get a chance to play some older stuff. Maybe we’ll play a couple of new songs, but we’ll keep it more intimate. I feel like — God, people have got to be sick of me. I’ve toured everywhere like 300 times. I think part of the gift of smaller shows is that you can put on something special that you can’t do in an arena or amphitheater. I’m excited to get to do that for the first time in years.

For so many people, you represent Vermont. How does that feel for you?

I grew up in a much different Vermont than some folks, so I try to be cognizant of that. I’m overjoyed to be able to talk about my great state around the world. It’s complicated too. I moved to Nashville, and it’s hard to be away from Vermont. It feels sometimes like a betrayal. Trying to get back there as much as possible is a big part of my goals for the year.

What made you want to support Small Business Saturday? Why are small businesses so important to you?

Small business is the heart of small towns. I remember when the hurricane came through Montpelier and destroyed it. Montpelier has all these small businesses — these people who took a risk and followed their passion to build something to represent what the town is and represent who they are. You don’t have the level of support that you do if, like, a Chipotle went underwater. Growing up in Strafford — having Coburns’ General Store be the only place you could go to get a bag of chips or some gas — and thinking about what it would be like if that was gone — had me thinking about how important it is to support these places.

What are some of your favorite small businesses?

Hanover Strings in New Hampshire is where I took my first guitar lesson and got my first set of strings. After school, I would just go up there and play all the guitars and pretend like I could afford them. Another small business that I really care about is Tuck’s Rock Dojo in New Hampshire. This guy built a music studio and treated us like we were stars — even if we were going to play for 14 people, it felt like playing Madison Square Garden. As a kid, I really needed that to inspire me and push me toward a life of performance.

You have this delightful social media presence, and I know that contributed a lot to your breakout moment. What’s your relationship with it like now?

I’ve really struggled recently with social media. I no longer like that I want people to think I’m the best or awesome. I just deleted it again a few weeks ago. I feel freer, I guess, and more like myself. It’s so easy to exaggerate all your worst fears by clicking a button or looking at, you know, “How is this other artist doing? Are they better than I am? Is this post performing? What’s happening in music? How do I stay relevant?” I felt like I was drowning under it and no longer making music because I wanted to say something, but because I wanted to say anything. I think right now I’m in “phones are bad” mode or “Amish” mode, but in like two weeks I’m sure I’ll be like “I f***ing love to talk!”

So much about what people know about you and what you write music about is tied to your identity — who you are and where you’re from. I’d imagine that makes it hard to disconnect your work from normal life.

One of the central struggles of my career is figuring out how to continue to make music but not feel like I’m constantly analyzing myself at all times. I think it can lead to some major main-character syndrome if you’re like, “My life is my music, so everything in my life needs to be dramatic!” What I’ve been working on in the past few months after the tour is leaving space for me and letting the music follow, instead of being like, “How can I dig into my life right now to create more art for people?” Because then you don’t have anything left. I was on the road for so long, I feel like I never really had to exist as a person. There was always someone taking care of me, somebody moving me to the next place and at night everyone was going to cheer for me. I didn’t have to do any growing. It’s been a lot of growth in the past couple of months, and a lot of challenges.

I think that level of introspection is really meaningful to a lot of people. Your biggest song is “Stick Season,” which is about the somewhat depressing period between fall and winter when leaves have fallen off the trees but snow hasn’t arrived yet. How are you getting ready for stick season?

It’s in full swing in Vermont! I’m headed back for Thanksgiving. I think I’m doing a pretty good job. I’m already depressed, so I should be ready for when it looks depressing outside too. It’s like wearing a winter jacket before it’s cold out, you know, I’m just making sure I’m as sad as possible. (Laughs) So when I go home and it looks like The Walking Dead or The Last of Us outside, I can be ready for it.

I always love when people say, “It’s seasonal depression season!” Like, I’m depressed all year round.

Yeah! Oh, you just get one season? Rookie numbers. Go all four.

I can be sad when it’s hot outside!

Even more sad, because it’s sweaty and gross.

So true. So to take things in a more lighthearted direction — congrats on being named People’s “Sexiest 27-Year-Old Alive!” How does that feel?

It’s just not true! I don’t know what they’re doing. There’s just no way. I see someone walking down the street every day that’s so hot. There’s no way that I, out of all the people alive — come on! Let’s get real!

I think you’re very humble! But I have to also congratulate you on getting another Grammy nomination for your collaboration with Kelsea Ballerini, “Cowboys Cry Too.” How does that feel?

It’s such an honor. I’m so happy for Kelsea because she brought this song in, and the concept just fit so well into what I was thinking about at the time. Getting the chance to really care about the meaning of the song and what the song stands for, then to see it acknowledged is so cool. And I love that you have to say “two-time Grammy Award-nominated” before my name. One day, hopefully, we’ll get Grammy-winning, but I don’t care about the victory as much as I do music being highlighted. So much goes into these things — the level of label involvement, management involvement, people working on the song, radio stations playing it — I think those people deserve the nominations, so it’s really a team.