The debate over whether certain artists qualify as “country” has been a debate is as old as country music itself. It has evolved and shifted as time has passed, first calling into question percussion instruments in country music, then the electric guitar, and so on from one decade to another. The question has been brought up regarding artists like Shania Twain and Garth Brooks in the ’90s, and more current artists like Kane Brown and Kacey Musgraves. The latest victim of this tedious question is none other than alternative folk star Noah Kahan.
Noah Kahan is a fascinating person to be having this conversation about. Not only has he become one of the biggest names in all of music, but he defies the typical conventions of an artist who foments disagreement over their country music pedigree. In most cases, when an artist’s country-ness is questioned, they begin their careers not rocking the boat musically; they slowly take more risks with their sound, straying gradually farther away from Nashville. Such was the case with Maren Morris and Taylor Swift. This is where our subject is a bit of an outlier.
Looking back through Kahan’s career, there should be no argument that his earlier efforts weren’t country at all. His debut album Busyhead was 10 tracks long, chock full of alternative pop music best suited for Hot AC radio. “Hurt Somebody” featuring Julia Michaels is perfect evidence of that. It wasn’t until 2022 that Noah Kahan would introduce the world to a bold new version of himself on the seminal LP Stick Season.
The Vermont native had a much more folky approach to Stick Season. Beginning with the opening track “Northern Attitude,” it’s clear that he had hit his stride with a fresh new source of inspiration. These days, almost all of his songs rely heavily on the banjo, which is really what’s sparked this discourse. The single “Dial Drunk” has the most prominent banjo, and a rolling, bluegrass rhythm. None of his music is straight-down-the-line classic country music, but it’s certainly not far off.
What’s confusing about Noah Kahan’s place in country music, is that there are gatekeepers out there who will insist that his music shouldn’t be categorized as country with the same veracity that we saw when bro-country took hold of this format over a decade ago. The album Stick Season possesses many of the traits that country music fans wished they could’ve seen more of in that era. He delivers introspective storytelling without any of the cliches fans love to bemoan (girls, trucks, beer), and he does so with an earnestness that was hard to find when the old guard was bellowing about Florida Georgia Line ruining music. We also get rootsy, acoustic instrumentation that feels wholeheartedly country in its production.
Over the last several years, country music listeners have had good reason to be wary when someone comes along and admonishes them for not being open-minded enough to new sounds and styles. More often than not, such condescending comments herald the arrival of a disingenuous pop star like Bebe Rexha or Lil Nas X pushing a silly little ditty to the top of the country charts before ditching the genre forever. Meanwhile, self-proclaimed country artists like Kane Brown brag about toeing the line between country and pop music.
Country music has been abused a lot in this respect, but this is all the more reason to give someone like Noah Kahan some credit. All early indications tell us that his venture into country music is in good faith, not to take advantage of a less competitive market. He’s doing the things that we should expect of those who openly call themselves country artists, and for that, he’s earned the benefit of the doubt.
It’s also worth noting that despite being an outsider, Noah Kahan has brought songs to the biggest stages in music that flatly represent this format better than some of Nashville’s recent mainstream successes. Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” and Jason Aldean’s “Try That In a Small Town” have both topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but neither one has the lyrical excellence or musical intrigue of Stick Season. Noah Kahan is a thoughtful, creative artist, and including his music under the country umbrella just raises the bar for this genre in general.
Kahan’s recent collaboration with Zach Bryan has gone a long way to endear him to country fans. Country Central’s “Hot Take Tuesday” featured a hot take from a follower saying “Sarah’s Place’ confirmed the “Noah Kahan is country.” Indeed, this is a pretty popular sentiment, with Zach Bryan being the “it” guy in country music right now. Additionally, being compared to the Oklahoma balladeer helps his case as a country artist a lot, since Zach has always towed the line between country and folk music as well. Since his rise to prominence, we haven’t really questioned Zach’s country credos; doing so with Noah just doesn’t make much sense.
The debate of who is country and who’s not is always going to stick around. It’s always going to evolve with time, and there will always be those trying to gatekeep the format. Noah Kahan is a nearly unprecedented case because he’s coming into country music with a dedicated fanbase from his years making alternative-pop music. Kahan has been one of the biggest stories of 2023, which, in turn, has been a net positive for country music as well. As he quickly builds a reputation for crafting rootsy, high-quality alt-country, the country music industry would do very well to wrap its arms around him.
