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

Like other recent breakout artists, Noah Kahan had been making music for 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 fully released until July 2022.

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

Kahan just wrapped up his sold-out “We’ll All Be Here Forever Tour” and is currently slowing down a bit in anticipation of a special performance with American Express on November 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 concert in Charleston, SC with American Express will be so much more intimate. Do you prepare for it in a different way?

Yes, we actually are. We’re going to play some songs that we don’t normally play, some more stripped down music and we’ll get a chance to play some older material. Maybe we’ll play some new songs, but we’ll keep it more intimate. I feel like, God, people must be tired of me. I’ve traveled everywhere about 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 happy that I can do that again for the first time in years.

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

I grew up in a very different Vermont than some people, so I try to keep that in mind. I am overjoyed to be able to talk about my great state all over the world. It’s also complicated. I moved to Nashville and it’s hard to be away from Vermont. It sometimes feels like 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 businesses are 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 that represents what the city is and represents who they are. You don’t have the level of support that you get if, say, a Chipotle goes under. Growing up in Strafford – where Coburns’ General Store was the only place you could go to get a bag of chips or some petrol – and thinking about what it would be like if that was gone – I had to think about how important it’s because of 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 there and play all the guitars and pretend I could afford them. Another small business 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 when we played in front of fourteen people, it felt like we were playing Madison Square Garden. As a child, I really needed that to inspire me and push me toward a life of achievement.

You have a wonderful social media presence, and I know that contributed a lot to your breakout moment. What is your relationship with it now?

I’ve been really struggling with social media lately. I no longer enjoy wanting people to think I’m the best or awesome. I deleted it again a few weeks ago. I feel freer, I think, and more myself. It’s so easy to exaggerate all your worst fears by clicking a button or looking at, you know, “How’s this other artist doing?” Are they better than me? Does this post work? What’s happening in the music? How do I stay relevant?” I felt like I was drowning under it and stopped making music because that’s what I wanted to say somethingbut because I wanted to say it something. I think I’m in “phones are bad” or “Amish” mode right now, but in about two weeks I’ll probably be like, “I fucking enjoy talking!”

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 come from. I can imagine that this makes it difficult to disconnect your work from normal life.

One of the biggest struggles in my career is figuring out how to keep making music but not feel like I’m constantly analyzing myself. I think it can lead to a main character syndrome if you say, “My life is my music, so everything in my life has to be dramatic!” What I’ve been working on these last few months after the tour is making space for me and letting the music follow, instead of saying, “How can I dig into my life now to create more art for people?” Because then you have nothing left. I’ve been on the road for so long that it feels like I never really had to exist as a person. There was always someone to take care of me, someone to take me to the next place and in the evening everyone would cheer me on. I didn’t have to do any breeding. There has been a lot of growth and many challenges in recent months.

I think this level of introspection is really meaningful for many people. Your biggest song is ‘Stick Season’, which is about the somewhat depressing period between autumn and winter, when the leaves have fallen from the trees but the snow has not yet arrived. How do you prepare for the stick season?

It’s in full swing in Vermont! I’m going back for Thanksgiving. I think I’m doing pretty well. I’m already depressed, so I have to be ready when it looks depressing outside too. It’s like wearing a winter coat before it’s cold, you know, I just make sure I’m as sad as possible. (Laughs) So I go home and it looks like that The walking dead or The last of us outside I can be ready.

I always love it when people say, “It’s seasonal depression season!” For example, I am depressed all year round.

Yes! Oh, you only get one season? Rookie numbers. Go all four.

I can be sad when it’s hot outside!

Even sadder, because it’s sweaty and dirty.

So true. So to put things on a lighter note, congratulations on your name People’s “Sexiest 27-Year-Old Alive!” How does that feel?

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

I think you are very modest! But I also have to congratulate you on getting another one 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 introduced this song, and the concept fit so well with what I was thinking at the time. Getting the opportunity to really care about the meaning of the song and what the song stands for, and then seeing it recognized is so cool. And I love that you have to say “two-time Grammy Award nominee” before my name. Hopefully one day we’ll win a Grammy, but I don’t really care about the win as much as I care about the music being highlighted. There’s so much that goes into these things – the level of label involvement, the management involvement, the people working on the song, the radio stations playing it – I think those people deserve the nominations, so it’s really a team.