As a diehard Swiftie, I have a confession. Spotify Wrapped exposed my obsession with another artist: Noah Kahan. Of course all Taylor Swift fans listen to other music, but I’ve never seen my top artist spot taken by anyone but her until now. With a bittersweet goodbye to that streak, I must admit that Noah Kahan is on the rise, and not just in terms of my Spotify history.
About a week ago, I woke up to the best news I’d heard since I found out that professors actually do round grades up: Noah Kahan will be performing at Ohio University’s Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on March 23, 2023. Balcony tickets are $25 and floor seats are $35. There are far too many seats still available. He is selling out arenas around the United States with tickets that are easily quadruple the cost.
It is somewhat shocking that he is able and willing to perform in a small town like Athens as his latest album, “Stick Season” has brought him a plethora of new, well-deserved attention. However, Athens is arguably the perfect place for him to share songs from this album. The album details the love-hate relationship of growing up in New England. The beauty, yet isolation of Athens makes it similar to the places he describes in his recent music.
Before this, he had released an album each year starting in 2018. His older albums like “Hurt Somebody” and “Busyhead” have more of a pop feel to them. His newer ones seem to transform his reputation into more of a folk or indie artist.
One of Kahan’s most defining traits is his ability to be relatable and humble in his musicianship. His lyrics are reflective. They don’t exert tones of narcissism and hate, but rather a sense of looking inward and acknowledging different states of mind. In his song “New Perspective”, he says, “If I could fly, I doubt I’d even do it. Probably get high or crash or something stupid.” The way that he confesses things like this is authentic in terms of being okay with admitting faults.
Not only are his lyrics humble, his prose is too. He recently confessed on Twitter that he bought the last few tickets to one of his shows in order to sell it out. It’s refreshing to see an admirable celebrity act like a human. He constantly is thanking his fans via social media platforms and even wrote out the lyrics to his songs on paper- per fans’ requests. He is wholesome- a trait that a lot of celebrities lack in this day and age.
If nothing else, his performance at Ohio University is the week after spring break. It will be something to look forward to that many of his fans can’t experience at such a price or convenience. I hope to see you there!
Layne Rey is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts? Let Layne know by tweeting her @laynerey12.
