Strafford’s Noah Kahan is arguably the most famous musician to come out of Vermont in recent years. A new Netflix documentary, "Noah Kahan: Out of Body," follows the Upper Valley singer-songwriter as he grapples with fame, his mental health and complex family dynamics.
Following the meteoric success of "Stick Season" in 2022, Kahan spent the next few years playing increasingly large venues. His near-constant touring culminated in shows at Madison Square Garden and Fenway Park.
The filmmakers documented those concerts, but they also joined Kahan for quieter moments at home in Nashville and Strafford. Their cameras captured Kahan struggling with body dysmorphia and disordered eating, and trying to write new songs that could survive in the shadow of "Stick Season."
The documentary premiered at SXSW last month, where it won an audience award. Its director, Nick Sweeney, made repeated trips to Strafford and the surrounding area during filming in order to better understand his subject.
"I'm from all the way on the other side of the world in Australia," Sweeney said on Vermont Edition. "It was definitely a baptism of fire — or a baptism of ice."
Sweeney was able to gain the trust of Kahan's family with the help of two co-producers who were Kahan's high school classmates and soccer teammates. Henry Allison grew up in Hartland, Vermont, and Asher Brown grew up in Lyme, New Hampshire. Brown attended Middlebury College, as did camera operator Matteo Moretti.
"We did have this local feel to the team," Sweeney said. "They really made sure that what we were capturing was authentic. And also they knew all the secret spots to go to, like the really beautiful stuff that's off the beaten track."
The documentary includes interviews with Strafford locals like 102-year-old Hazel Linton Lewis, who has since passed away, and Mel Coburn of Coburns' General Store.
Coburns' sells Noah Kahan merch, but that doesn't mean they're superfans. One of Sweeney's favorite moments from filming came during an interview with Coburn. "I was like, 'Mel, do you listen to a lot of Noah's music?' And he was like, 'No, I don't.' And I was like, 'Wow, what an amazing thing to say. It felt very Vermont. I think people in Vermont are very honest."
Kahan released his fourth studio album, "The Great Divide," last week. Sweeney swears that the fortuitous timing was just that — fortuitous — and not a marketing strategy. When his crew wrapped filming in early 2025, they didn't think a new album was coming anytime soon.
"We thought that the album would be, like, 2027 maybe, because he was so burnt out and exhausted after this huge tour, and there was no rush to follow it up," Sweeney said.
The film shows a frustrated Kahan trying to record just one new song.
That song, "The Great Divide," would go on to become the first single off the new album and snag the number six spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
This episode of Vermont Edition also included an interview with the filmmaker JLee MacKenzie about his new motion capture animated film, "Definitely Gangster," which premiered this weekend at the Made Here Film Festival. Plus, Vermont Edition's Jon Ehrens sits down with Seven Days music editor Chris Farnsworth for their monthly music chat.
Broadcast live on Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
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