In December, we were fortunate to have Noah Kahan on an episode of The Road Trip Playlists podcast. In the interview, Kahan shared about his experience after his first album and a space in time when he wasn’t feeling connected to his music.
“Here’s the thing man, you get your entire life to write your first album, and then you’re expected to have your second album like a year later, and I think that idea just really fucked with me really bad,” Kahan said. “It felt weird to have to live up to some weird expectation, and I already struggle with so much writer’s block and self-doubt that I was just like feeling trapped by my career, and I felt like I was trapped in this cycle of having to get better and impress people but not feeling like I was able to live these experiences. I lived my whole life before I wrote my first album, and then I had a year to live to inspire my next album. That really disturbed my psyche and creativity.”
Then in 2020, the world shut down, and the singer-songwriter found himself back in Vermont locked down with his family playing Instagram lives for fans. Through these Instagram live sessions, Kahan played songs with a more folk vibe and fans loved it and it led to the release of his Cape Elizabeth EP.
“I made this project called Cape Elizabeth that was really born in the first few weeks of that time period, and it really set me free musically,” Kahan said. “I didn’t put any pressure on it. I recorded it in a week, and people really still liked it and felt like it was cool, and it was nice to have this affirmation that people were like, ‘Hey man, it doesn’t have to all be hits, or a crazy project that you make with the biggest producer in the world. We love your music. That helped me get to a place where I felt free and I felt creative and I felt like I could do whatever I felt and whatever I wanted and take my time.”
Feeling free and creative following the release of the EP helped in the creation of Kahan’s impressive sophomore album, I Was/I Am, but it also helped birth other songs like Kahan’s newest released single, ‘Stick Season.’
Stick Season
One of the songs that was born during this time, and fans quickly fell in love with during those Instagram lives was ‘Stick Season.’ Fans have been calling for its release to streaming platforms or to be played at concerts for over two years now.
On June 30, the long-awaited announcement finally came with Kahan tweeting “Stick season is finally out on July 8. This song wouldn’t have existed with you all. This is just the beginning, thanks for believing in this tune.”
The announcement was instantly heralded by fans and many even were counting down the days. Well, the day is finally here and this special song has been released to the world.
Kahan took to Twitter upon it’s announcement saying “Stick Season is out now everywhere! My favorite song ever is yours to hear. Lemme know if you hate it.”
It’s a hard song to hate. The songwriting shines as typical in a Noah Kahan release and there are some incredibly deep and emotional lyrics like “And I’ll dream each night of some version of you, that I might not have but I did not lose.” Or the “And I am terrified of weather ’cause I see you when it rains.” The lyrics ring incredibly true that even if you haven’t been in New England when the beautiful foliage turns to sticks you can relate to the feelings Kahan expresses in the raw lyrics.
‘Stick Season’ is just the start as well. Kahan spoke on the podcast about his upcoming album and that it will have a similar folk vibe to it. If you follow Kahan on Twitter you saw his comments about the upcoming album and it’s hard not to be excited about it.
“6 months ago I called my manager and told him I didn’t have enough music to make this album and I told my mom that I thought I’d never make anything good again. Today I have 14+ songs for an album that I can truly say is the best I’ve ever done and maybe the best I’ll ever do.” Kahan tweeted.
The release of ‘Stick Season’ was also followed by an exciting tour announcement. The artist will be hitting the road during the actual stick season to play his new music for fans. Presale tickets + VIP packages are available Monday 7/11 at 1pm ET. You can sign up for the presale code at http://noahkahan.com/tour now. All other tickets go on sale Friday 7/15 at 10am local time (2/2).
