Do you find yourself listening to the 2022 album Stick Season by Noah Kahan and wondering, “What exactly is stick season?” The Vermont-born artist has explained just that, describing the feeling of loneliness that comes with the particular moment in time.
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[Noah Kahan’s 2024 Tour: Get Tickets Here]
“Stick season is between fall and the snow,” Kahan told NME earlier this month. “It’s a time of transition in the weather, but also in a lot of people’s lives. A big part of my childhood was being surrounded by friends and family.”
He continued, “I thought I was gonna go to college but, instead, I got a record deal. I was just at home in Vermont making music and my friends would come home for Thanksgiving, when stick season was in full swing. They would leave, and that loneliness would come back. [During COVID] that feeling of being left behind or out of place was at the forefront of my mind again.”
So, stick season is more or less a literal season in New England, marking the hushed moments between the last fall leaf and the beginning of the winter snow. It is also a reflection on loneliness and introspection, of being left behind and found again. Noah Kahan has tapped this feeling honestly and with personal experience on the song “Stick Season,” and fans are relating to those specific feelings.
Noah Kahan on the Success of Writing Honestly
Kahan noted that the feeling has been immensely relatable for people not just in New England, where the phrase is mostly used, but all over. This relatability is what led to the success of the song “Stick Season” off of the titular album.
“It’s not lost on me how rare it is to have your own truth be what has led to wider success,” he said. “What’s important is that the emotion leads to those specificities – you’re not just talking about the Walmart parking lot just because you happen to have a Walmart parking lot in your town.
“It’s about finding the balance, but I definitely want to include my own experience and memories in my music forever.” He concluded, “It lets you feel like you’re visiting an old place – when I’m on the road, it allows me to go back and think about things that I can’t see anymore.”
Noah Kahan will be on tour in 2024 in the U.K. and Ireland for a select number of dates starting in February. He will also be in Australia in January, Canada in the spring, and the U.S. beginning in May.
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