“I may look like I’ve been through two grizzly divorces, but I’m only twenty-six!”
Earlier this fall, Noah Kahan opened his show at Austin City Limits with these words, demonstrating once again how his self-deprecating humor along with his musical musings and rich vocals attract audiences worldwide. This humor, handed out between each gut-wrenchingly beautiful delivery on hits from his latest deluxe album “Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)”, only adds to the uniqueness and passion he displays when performing.
This year, I had the immense luck of being a part of the studio audience for the songwriter’s local Austin City Limits TV show debut. Amidst songs like breakthrough title track “Stick Season,” he vocalized other poignant stories surrounding topics from mental health and falling in love to the coexistence of loathe and adoration for one’s hometown. Kahan can be perfectly summed up in that alone: simultaneity. He can at once string out gorgeously crafted lyrics like “Don’t let this darkness fool you / All lights turned off can be turned on,” while leaving the room to laugh and drink in the pure love of being alive.
“My parents are divorced,” he exclaimed toward the beginning of the show, as if it offered up some explanation for the sorrowful banjo-laced songs he was about to make us cry to. It was this lightheartedness he shared in the thick of singing through his deepest traumas that collectively and personally helped us feel less alone about our own issues; as though we could laugh about the oddity of our pasts from a new perspective.
In the rare moments I was able to look away from the stage, I saw what appeared to be a sea of flannel bobbing in waves of swayed dance. Some sobbed, as others sang and hummed along – a true choir in their efforts. If someone came in blind, they would think they walked in on a church worship band.
“Did anyone come here alone tonight?” he asked. After violent applause for those who raised their hands, he said, “Good. Once you learn how to enjoy being alone, you unlock the entire world’s worth of possibilities.” These wise words from Kahan echoed the message of his recently founded Project Busyhead, an organization dedicated to unraveling the “taboo of mental health”, and to starting the sometimes difficult conversations around the topic for those who struggle on a daily basis.
As a final gift to the audience and in true Kahan style, he politely referred us all to therapy, advocating the benefits for everyone, even the “happiest person in the room” leaving all of us feeling less alone and full of hope.
The singer/songwriter will continue to headline Austin venues on his 2024 North American tour at the Moody Center.
