How Noah Kahan Became the Soundtrack for Millennial Nostalgia
A 27-year-old artist landed a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist in February 2024, racked up more than 1.4 billion Spotify streams in a single year, and sold out venues where tickets climb into the thousands. That kind of rise usually points to a polished pop formula. This time, it came from songs about feeling stuck, going home, and realizing home never really leaves. Noah Kahan has built something bigger than a viral moment.
The Breakout That Didn’t Follow the Rules
Stick Season, released in 2022, was posted by Kahan on TikTok, saw little reaction at first, and moved on. But by the next morning, it had taken off.
The track climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s rock and alternative charts and stayed in rotation across streaming platforms. By 2023, Kahan was playing sold-out shows at major venues like Red Rocks Amphitheater and earning a Grammy nomination.
Kahan had already stepped away from the kind of indie pop he built earlier in his career. His debut album, “Busyhead,” in 2019, and the follow-up, “I Was/I Am,” in 2021, leaned toward mainstream appeal. They worked, but they didn’t define him. This changed when he went back to Vermont and wrote something that sounded like where he came from.
Why Millennials Heard Themselves in It
Image via Getty Images/AntonioGuillem
Stick season refers to the stretch between fall and winter in Vermont, when the leaves are gone, and everything feels stalled. That idea runs through the album. Other songs like Homesick and Northern Attitude focus on being caught between different phases of life. That’s familiar territory for a generation that hit adulthood during a pandemic.
Kahan writes about leaving home and still being tied to it. He talks about wanting more while feeling stuck. The lyrics resonate because they sound like thoughts people already have. That connection is apparent at his shows.
Kahan’s early career followed a familiar path. He signed with Republic Records at 17, moved through Nashville, New York City, and Los Angeles, and worked toward a mainstream pop breakthrough. But during the pandemic, he ended up back in Strafford, Vermont. He leaned into folk and Americana influences instead of trying to fit a pop format.
He has been open about it. At one point, he admitted he was writing music he wouldn’t listen to.
TikTok Helped, But It Didn’t Do the Heavy Lifting
Image via Pexels/Solen Feyissa
TikTok has become a launchpad for new artists, but many of those moments fade quickly. Kahan managed to push past that.
He didn’t even like the platform at first. He used it because he had to, then found himself relying on it more than he expected. The difference is that once listeners found Stick Season, they stayed for everything else. His catalog supported the attention, and his live shows backed it up.
Turning Vulnerability Into Something Bigger
Kahan talks openly about anxiety, depression, and the pressure that comes with success. He has also put real money behind that conversation through the Busyhead Project, which has raised over $2 million to expand access to mental health care. Even while headlining festivals and touring globally, he has described the experience as isolating at times. That contrast shows up in his writing, where excitement and unease often exist in the same line.