Noah Kahan has found what most artists spend years searching for: how to turn homesickness into chart-dominating gold. According to E! News, the Vermont native has built an entire fanbase around his regional roots, and he shows no sign of stopping.
"What's nice about the music is that it's so deeply connected to where I'm from that I do feel on stage like I'm back in New Hampshire or back in Vermont," Kahan told E! News in an exclusive interview. Every show becomes a homecoming, whether he's physically there or not.
Kahan has turned New England regionalism into something tribes rally around. His fans—many of whom have traveled from Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island to see him perform—carry handmade signs declaring their hometowns. It's less concert, more reunion. "New England is already like its own little cult, and I think like we love having something that like we can connect on," he explained.
In an era when most Gen Z and millennial artists chase geographic anonymity, Kahan has done the opposite. He could have softened his lyrics, broadened his appeal, gone full arena-pop-national. Instead, he doubled down on "Stick Season" (a regional term most Americans don't understand), "Mess" (literally named after I-89), and "Maine" (from his Cape Elizabeth EP). Specificity has won out over blandness.
While touring, Kahan stays tethered to home through constant check-ins with friends, fishing photos from the Connecticut River, and whenever possible, a few days off with his phone turned off. "When I do have a couple days off, literally making sure I get home and spend some days turning my phone off and just experiencing the place that I'm from," he said. That grounding is essential fuel. Without it, his music would lose its authenticity, and his fanbase would sense it immediately.
"I'm really proud to be able to write about where I'm from," he emphasized. "I know my experience is not that of every Vermonter or New Englander, but being able to experience" that connection to place through his songs feels non-negotiable to him. New England is his North Star, and that refusal to pretend otherwise is his competitive advantage.
