SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
If you grew up in a small town, you might have spent a lot of time dreaming about leaving, exploring the world outside. The irony is, once you've been away for a while, the thing you long for most is to go back home.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "END OF AUGUST")
NOAH KAHAN: (Singing) Ending of August, the bugs are just starting to die. All the neighbors voted for someone who wins every time.
DETROW: After years of topping charts and touring, the world, musician Noah Kahan is paying homage to the small town in Vermont where he grew up with a new album called "The Great Divide." With me to talk about it for New Music Friday is DJ Llu from Vermont Public. Welcome.
DJ LLU: How you doing, Scott?
DETROW: I'm good. Let's talk Vermont. So Kahan's origins are kind of at the center of this album. Can you explain a little bit of his background for people who aren't as familiar?
DJ LLU: Yeah, you know, Noah is almost 30. He's an indie folk artist who grew up on a tree farm in Vermont, which is not as rare as you'd think. You either grew up on a tree farm or you grew up on some kind of farm here. He's from a small town called Strafford, Vermont, and he had a breakthrough with his 2022 album "Stick Season."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STICK SEASON")
KAHAN: (Singing) And I love Vermont, but it's the season of the sticks, and I...
DJ LLU: And he got nominated for two Grammy Awards. So now the new album is out, and we are all so proud of Noah here in Vermont. And the songs are really more of what you heard on "Stick Season" but next level.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL THEM HORSES")
KAHAN: (Singing) I've crossed the county line, I cannot go back. I'm always on my own.
DJ LLU: So reflecting on his success, his relationships and this yearning feeling of - for what was and what could be.
DETROW: All right, so I like Vermont, but I'm not from Vermont. You are from Vermont. As a Vermonter, is there anything on this album that sticks out to you that catches your ear that somebody like me wouldn't quite catch?
DJ LLU: Yeah, you know, there's a couple of things. He talks about 89 in one of his songs, and I just want to be clear, it's the one interstate in Vermont. So when you're driving down 89 rubbing your eyes, he sings about it and then hitting a deer.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL THEM HORSES")
KAHAN: (Singing) Rubbed my eyes on 89, double yellow, murdered deer. You can vanish.
DJ LLU: It's kind of a real-life experience up here, but he also has a song called "Porch Light." And in Vermont, a porch light is really an important part of your home. It's the last thing you see when you drive away, and it's the first thing you see when you come back home. So it's a really touching connection. And that song is also about his mom, which can get a little intense if you really listen to those lyrics.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PORCH LIGHT")
KAHAN: (Singing) You act like we just sit up here and wait for you to reappear. But baby, there are bills to pay, and your dad's road needs salt. And I try to drown out all the talk, the eyeballs in the parking lot and tell people it ain't me you want, but I guess you're my fault. You're a ghost, you're a ghost.
DETROW: Let's talk more about the idea of home. That's where we started the conversation. It - you know, whether you're from Vermont or elsewhere, it's such a common theme for so many people - the need to get away and then the draw to want to come back. What does Kahan have to say about all that?
DJ LLU: Yeah, you know, it's a huge theme from him. It's hence the title "Great Divide," this tug that you have from going away and coming back, especially from small town. It's really real.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE GREAT DIVIDE")
KAHAN: (Singing) I can't recall the last time that we talked about anything but looking out for cops.
DJ LLU: It's a very Vermont experience. Many Vermonters go away and find their way back home. And when you become a big, famous pop star, I really think it turns that up. So the whole album really reflects on that and how tough it is to try to come back home and put roots down again.
DETROW: Listening to a lot of these songs, it kind of feels to me like they were written for live performances. Is that a fair way to think about it?
DJ LLU: Absolutely. In fact, Noah wrote this entire album with that in mind. I think that's where he excels. If you see Noah Kahan live, that is Noah at his best.
(SOUNDBITE OF NOAH KAHAN SONG, "DENY DENY DENY")
DJ LLU: He's funny. He's entertaining. He's got this presence, and the entire audience sings along. It's like going to a Bruce Springsteen show, honestly. It's just - it feels really cool.
DETROW: That's DJ Llu from Vermont Public. You can hear about Noah Kahan's "The Great Divide" plus more great music on the New Music Friday podcast from NPR Music. Thanks so much for talking to us.
DJ LLU: Thank you, Scott.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DENY DENY DENY")
KAHAN: (Singing) That I share a brain with. Oh, tell me when you were broken. Do you still have a heart or has somebody stole it? But I'm far too tired to watch you lie, so let's just watch TV. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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