Biography
Noah Kahan (born January 22, 2000) is a singer-songwriter from Strafford, Vermont, raised on a tree farm at the edge of a small New England community that would become the emotional bedrock of nearly everything he would go on to write.[1] His father, Josh Kahan, is Jewish and taught him guitar as a child; his mother, Lauri Berkenkamp, is a published author of parenting guides and instilled in him a discipline for writing that would prove equally formative.[1] He began composing songs at age 8 and was uploading them to SoundCloud by his early teens.
Kahan attended Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire, before signing with Republic Records in 2017 and deferring his admission to Tulane University to pursue music full time.[1] His debut album Busyhead (2019) introduced his signature blend of confessional folk songwriting and New England imagery. The follow-up I Was / I Am arrived in 2021, but it was Stick Season (2022) that broke him into mainstream consciousness, its intimately detailed portrait of Vermont anxiety and longing becoming a multi-platform phenomenon and earning him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
Throughout his career Kahan has spoken openly about his struggles with anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, and disordered eating, a candor that has made him a significant voice in destigmatizing mental illness for a generation of younger listeners.[2] He founded The Busyhead Project, a nonprofit dedicated to making therapy more accessible. In 2026, the Netflix documentary Noah Kahan: Out of Body (directed by Nick Sweeney, premiered at SXSW March 2026) chronicled his journey from playing small pre-pandemic venues to headlining Fenway Park, including frank examinations of his mental health battles.[2]
His fourth studio album The Great Divide (April 2026), co-produced with Aaron Dessner (The National, Taylor Swift), marked an artistic evolution from raw personal grief toward empathy and reconciliation, examining the emotional costs his confessional art placed on those closest to him.[3] Kahan married Brenna Nolan on August 23, 2025 in a private ceremony in Vermont.[1]
References
- Noah Kahan – Wikipedia — Comprehensive biography including early life, career timeline, and discography
- Noah Kahan on Netflix Documentary, Depression at SXSW — Variety on the Out of Body documentary and Kahan's public discussions of mental health
- Noah Kahan Explains New Single 'Porch Light' — Rolling Stone interview touching on Kahan's family background and creative evolution