“Reside from Nashville!” Nicely, kind of. Jonah Kagen didn’t take the stage at a honky-tonk on Broadway — as an alternative, he arrange three microphones in the midst of an open discipline and strummed his 12-string Guild guitar, singing his new single “Candyland” in a shocking dwell efficiency.
I used to personal that very same acoustic — a Guild with two truss rods. That’s a severe quantity of string stress on the neck, however Jonah performs it with ease and conviction. The efficiency is so pure and unfiltered you’ll be able to even hear the wind rumbling into the mic close to the top of the monitor. Now that’s uncooked.
Kagen’s down-to-earth creativity runs deep. He recorded and produced his whole debut album, Sunflowers and Leather-based, in an Airstream trailer whereas touring throughout the nation. After packing up all the pieces he owned, he hit the highway and began over — capturing the guts of America in each sound and spirit.
Off-camera, he’s hysterically humorous and endlessly real. His canine, Mars, even makes a cameo on the finish of the Candyland video, stealing the highlight in true Nashville style.
Jonah Kagen could also be out in a discipline as an alternative of on Decrease Broadway however make no mistake — that is as dwell from Nashville because it will get.
With Sunflowers and Leather-based, Jonah Kagen has planted himself firmly among the many most enjoyable voices in trendy music. The report’s breakout single “God Wants The Satan” shot straight to #1 at Various Radio, whereas the album itself made a formidable debut at #3 on Spotify’s Prime Albums Chart. Since launch, Sunflowers and Leather-based has surpassed 35 million streams and drawn reward from followers and critics alike.
Publications like Folks Journal, Holler, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, Stereogum, and Ones to Watch have all echoed the identical sentiment circulating on-line—Sunflowers and Leather-based is among the standout albums of the 12 months.
To carry the story to life visually, Kagen teamed up with acclaimed inventive David O’Donohue (Noah Kahan, Lainey Wilson, James Bay) for a 16mm documentary titled Sunflowers and Leather-based: The Subject Information. Shot throughout the U.S., the movie mirrors Jonah’s personal path—from South Carolina to the huge skies of Montana—capturing the solitude, landscapes, and hard-won resilience that formed the songs.
Followers can dive deeper at jonahkagen.com/slfieldguide, the place the immersive “Subject Information” expertise lets listeners discover behind-the-scenes footage, unreleased pictures, and tales from the Airstream studio the place Jonah wrote and recorded all the album himself.
With greater than 500 million international streams and almost 6 million month-to-month listeners on Spotify, Kagen’s momentum is simple. His connection to followers runs deep—only recently, he staged a shock pop-up present in Vancouver, and inside hours, greater than 100 individuals confirmed as much as sing alongside.
Sunflowers and Leather-based isn’t only a title—it’s an announcement of duality, a steadiness between magnificence and grit. Jonah Kagen’s star is rising quick, and if this album is any indication, he’s solely simply getting began.
