Join us at The Dreamland
for a special evening with Noah Kahan and friends as they perform from the main
stage. Fresh off his “I Was, I Am” tour, this will be an exciting, music-filled
evening you won’t want to miss!
Pricing Info:
Rows A - C $129
Rows D - G $99
Rows H - EE $79
Rows FF - JJ $59
Artist Bio:
Seasons
change. Places change. People change. As Noah Kahan changes, he casts those
experiences onto songs like light through a film projector. At the core of the
music’s upbeat energy and unfiltered lyrics, you’ll hear who he was before and
who he became—almost in real-time. The Vermont singer still pens songs straight
from the heart and still cracks jokes with his signature, self-deprecating
sense of humor; he’s just changed in all of the right ways (and chronicled them
via his songwriting).
The
critically acclaimed singer and songwriter simply took two years of milestones
and transformed them into his second full-length album, I Was // I Am [Republic
Records].
“While
writing this record, I’ve taken stock of who I am as compared to who I was when
I started and what that means, for better or worse. I do have some perspective.
I’ve also lost a lot. I’ve lost people close to me for different reasons. I’ve
lost friendships. I lost my dog. Those experiences haven’t necessarily hardened
me, but they’ve made me incredibly grateful for what I have now. The biggest
change is a little bit of clarity in terms of who I am and the person I want to
end up being. The songs on the record represent a new understanding of myself,”
he says.
He
gained that understanding through quite the journey from small town Vermont to
global renown. He’s racked up over one billion streams, released his
full-length debut album Busyhead, picked up a Gold Certification for “Hurt
Somebody” feat. Julia Michaels, and performed on television shows such
as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers,
and TODAY. His 2020 Cape Elizabeth EP received widespread critical
acclaim, and not to mention, he’s collaborated with everyone from Chelsea
Cutler to mxmtoon to Quinn XCII to Gryffin. In the fall of 2020, he headed to
Los Angeles in order to record with engineer Mark Rankin (in person) and
his Busyhead collaborator and Grammy Award-winning producer Joel
Little [Taylor Swift, Lorde, Shawn Mendes, Jonas Brothers, Khalid] (via Zoom
from New Zealand). Together, they tracked the bulk of the record during this
trip.
“We
would start at 3pm PT, because Joel was just waking up in New Zealand, and I
was at my most impatient,” laughs Noah. “It’s the worst time of the day for me,
because I still have some residual drama from being in high school. However, it
felt like Joel was in the room. He’s the greatest producer ever, in my opinion,
and it was super fun to do this with him and Mark. Ironically, we made an album
about changing, while staying in one place,” he grins.
Preserving
his commitment to vivid lyricism, he kickstarted the music with faster tempos
and sweeping hooks, recharging the overall vision.
“I
wanted these songs to be emotional, but I also wanted them to be bigger,” he
exclaims. “It’s upbeat shit with sad and contemplative lyrics. You can listen
to the record as a story, but each one of these songs is a big old banger.”
His
first single “Part of Me” perfectly encapsulates that sentiment. As handclaps
and guitar ring out, the intimate verses drive towards a sweeping and soaring
refrain as he tries to grasp a fleeting moment, “Got so close to love with
you my dear, but I don’t miss you, I miss the way you made me feel.”
“I’ve
met so many people briefly and often by chance either on the road or through
friends, but I still think about them all of the time,” he says. “They left a
lasting impact. That line, ‘I don’t miss you, I miss the way you made me
feel,’ is important to me. It’s not about the person; it’s about the
feeling of meeting someone who makes you consider this linear-head-down path
you’re on isn’t right—or maybe they opened your eyes for just one second. You’ll
think about that one second for years. I know I do.”
“Godlight”
shines over glistening acoustic guitar as he admits, “I’m not the way I
was,” in a fluttering high register. “I was on tour with a lighting
director who said I needed more ‘Godlight’ on stage,” he recalls.
“‘Godlight’ is the light that fixates on the singer, while the rest of the
band is blackened down. In my life, I was chasing that. This ego was growing,
and I saw it growing. I knew it was affecting my relationships. As a little kid
if I saw myself giving so much of a shit about the attention on me instead of
the music, I’d be really disappointed. The song is like I’m singing to my older
self at a family reunion.”
Then,
there’s “Animal” where his falsetto skates over head-bobbing handclaps and a
slick beat. “Someone Like You” sways with Noah’s soulful vocals towards another
chantable refrain. “It’s about immediate regret,” he goes on. “When you lose
someone in a relationship, you don’t really understand that the person is gone.
You’re never going to have exactly that again.”
For
as much as he may have changed, Noah’s goal stays the same.
“I
still want to be able to connect to folks in the way I do and value when I
listen to music,” he leaves off. “Change is something you can learn from. It’s
never too late to be a better person and to move forward. Always work on
yourself and give yourself a fucking break every once in a while. I hope
listeners feel like there’s more to learn about me, just like I do when I
listen to my favorite artists. I also hope they’re happy to stay along for the
ride, because I’ve been so grateful for them so far.”