In his Saturday Night Live debut, Noah Kahan tied up an incredible breakthrough year. His first performance of the night was an rendition of “Dial Drunk” from his critically-acclaimed third album Stick Season.
During the performance, Kahan put his vices on display, as he delivered the raw confessional tale detailing the repercussions of alcoholism. Surrounded by tree branches up above, Kahan captured the spirit of stick season, which refers to the period of time between the fall and winter “when it’s just kind of gray and cold, and there’s no snow yet and the beauty of the foliage is done,” as he previously explained in a lyrical breakdown with Genius.
On the chorus of the song, Kahan sings “I’ll dial drunk / I’ll die a drunk / I’ll die for you.”
After performing the final chorus of the song, Kahan pledged his allegiance to the audience and to the show itself
“I’ll die for you SNL. Or at least, seriously injure myself,” he said.
This past year launched Kahan into stardom, the next year looks to be even more promising. Last month, Kahan was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
You can see the performance of “Dial Drunk” above.