Syracuse, N.Y. — While it may be tricky to circle up the covered wagons and get out the tambourine, heading to St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview in Syracuse could give you the same down-home effect.
Noah Kahan, a Vermont-born musician commonly seen wearing overalls and flannel shirts, will play the amphitheater on Friday, Sept. 1. His songs prioritize intense rhythm and complex harmonies, and his lyrics often connote a sense of belonging and camaraderie. Audiences are captivated by his authenticity, often letting out a few whoops and stomping their feet.
Kahan is soaring to stardom, with roughly 700,000 Instagram followers, 14 million Spotify listeners per month and over 22 million streams on his latest collaboration, “Dial Drunk,” with Post Malone.
Despite his country fashion choices, pop mixes and folk instrumentation, one thing about the artist remains undefinable: his genre.
According to Genius, Kahan falls under the music genre “Stomp and Holler,” a tag seemingly created by Spotify in 2017, as a part of its annual end-of-year Wrapped campaign. Since 2017, Stomp and Holler has gained an audience — listeners who may have joined for the irony, but stayed for the relatability.
Stomp and Holler prioritizes “driving rhythms, intricate instrumentation, and full harmonies,” according to Spotify’s own definition. Moreover, websites including the playlist analyzer Chosic add that Stomp and Holler is a mix of pop, folk, indie and Americana. It uses acoustic instruments to tell the story of life, love and loss. The genre also features tunes by the Lumineers and Mumford & Sons, as well as classic chart entries by James Taylor and even Charlie Daniels’s “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
“There’s a backstory to it. It doesn’t just happen,” said Todd Herreman, Syracuse University professor of Music Industry and Technology. Herreman describes Stomp and Holler as “a personal connection with a lot less clutter.”
“The first thing I thought of was call and response, coming from blues and gospel,” said Herreman. “You hear it in the church, where the preacher yells something and the congregation responds.”
Herreman pointed out that the genre is not one-sided, but a conversation between performer and audience.
“It’s gotta be a story people can relate to.”
Tom Honan, the host of the music podcast Record Store Radio, said fans will find a sense of intimacy when listening to Kahan.
“I’m drawn to artists who know their history. He knows where he comes from. You can look at his writing and understand that he comes from a long tradition of storytelling. He knows his history, but he puts his own spin on stuff. He’s rather deep, and has a lot of substance to him.”
Honan said Kahan’s work is “the real deal thing that people connect with…you can tell they want to hear and sing along. They want to know the words.”
Herreman echoed this, adding that Kahan’s natural ability to perform complements his storytelling. “We are captivated by the performance and the authenticity of a performer,” he said. “You can’t fake that s***.”
“I think the human soul ultimately wants to come back, at least occasionally, to remind ourselves what this is really all about on an organic level,” said Honan. Kahan’s music is riddled with compassion and has a consistent theme about leaving your hometown to eventually come back. It epitomizes the intimacy and authenticity that defines Stomp and Holler.
“It’s the story,” said Herreman. “The story is relatable, and it gets people not only listening but wanting more.”
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Jeannie Jedlicka is a graduate student in the Goldring Arts Journalism program at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.
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