Noah Kahan

Noah Kahan

Noah Kahan is an American singer-songwriter from Strafford, United States. Born in 1997, he records folk, folk pop and pop, and his work also sits within indie and acoustic settings. He runs Kahanvict Publishing and signed to Republic Records in 2017.

Early life and beginnings

Kahan starts writing songs at the age of eight and uploads them to SoundCloud, where his music begins to attract attention. He attends Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire, and later defers admission to Tulane University to focus on music. At 17, he begins working with school friend and music producer Cwenga Matanzima, which helps bring him to the attention of manager Drew Simmons of Foundations Artist Management. He also draws inspiration from Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, Counting Crows, Hozier and Mumford and Sons.

Early releases and breakthrough

In 2016 he signs to Republic Records and works with producer Joel Little, with whom he records six songs. His first single, “Young Blood”, arrives in 2017 and gains over 9 million streams. He follows it with four more singles over the same year. “Hurt Somebody” is released as the lead single from his debut EP, and later re-recorded with Republic Records artist Julia Michaels. The EP of the same name appears in 2018. Kahan makes his television debut in 2018 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, performing “Hurt Somebody”.

Albums and later work

His debut full-length album, Busyhead, is announced in 2019 and includes “Hurt Somebody” alongside the singles “False Confidence” and “Mess”. In 2020 he releases the EP Cape Elizabeth, recorded over one week in his friend Phin Choukas’ home studio in Vermont after he leaves New York City to avoid COVID-19. In 2021 he announces his second full-length album, I Was/I Am, and releases it later that year. Before the album appears, he issues the singles “Part of Me”, “Godlight” and “Animal”.

Stick Season and collaborations

In 2022 Kahan releases “Stick Season”, a song he first teases in 2020, and it develops into a fan favourite with wide circulation on TikTok. He follows it with “Northern Attitude” and then releases the album Stick Season, which he writes while back home in Vermont during the pandemic. The album moves further towards folk than his earlier, more pop-oriented material, and he says he wants to honour the folk singers he grew up listening to. In 2023 he appears on Joy Oladokun’s “We’re All Gonna Die”, and later releases the deluxe edition Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), which adds seven previously unreleased tracks.

Touring and support slots

Kahan opens for Ben Folds and Anderson East in the United States in early 2017, then for Milky Chance later that year. He also supports The Strumbellas on an East Coast run, performs at Billboard’s Industry Night in New York City, supports George Ezra in North America in 2018, and later headlines shows across Europe. In 2018 he tours internationally with Dean Lewis supporting in North America, then opens for Dean Lewis in Europe and James Bay in North America in 2019. He heads out on The Busyhead Tour in North America in 2019 and later headlines the I Am / I Was Tour with support from Blake Rose and Genevieve Stokes.

Audience and name of fans

His fans are known as “busyheads”.