Noah Kahan Tops Rolling Stone's Debut Stateside Festival
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- Noah Kahan headlined Rolling Stone's first-ever Stateside Festival at Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, NY on July 4, playing a 75-minute set to a sold-out crowd of 4,000 and joking he wanted "the fucking most depressing Fourth of July of our lives."
- Kahan is currently on a sold-out stadium tour supporting "The Great Divide," an 17-track album that debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 and earned him Rolling Stone's cover story in its American Icons issue alongside Barack Obama, Ken Burns, Becky G, and Monica Lewinsky.
- A portion of each Stateside ticket went to the BusyHead Project, Kahan's nonprofit mental health organization aimed at ending stigma and improving access to resources.
- Sponsors included Boston Beer Co./Dogfish Head, Hertz (which sent a "Gold Squad" of golden retrievers through the crowd, prompting Michaela Anne to note it was her "first time playing in front of golden retrievers"), and Scout Motors, which debuted "Tailgate Sessions Presented by Scout Motors" — described as a "modern Americana garage" with a custom chain-stitch station.
- Festival organizers paused the day for 90 minutes during a rainstorm before Devon Gilfillian restarted the final Scout Stage set declaring, "We made it! It's not too hot now, now we've cooled off."
- The Scout Stage also featured Hudson Ingram (son of country singer Jack Ingram), who duetted with fellow Stateside performer Sydney Rose on their track "Don't Get Me Started," alongside Calder Allen, Michaela Anne, Craig Caldwell (performing as Derby), and Bebe Stockwell, while the Main Stage hosted Bo Staloch, Arcy Drive, and Sydney Rose.
Why it matters: Stateside marks Rolling Stone's expansion from music journalism into live event production at a moment when legacy media companies are racing to monetize fandom through branded festivals. Pairing a Number One-album headliner with sponsors like Hertz and Scout Motors turns the festival into a marketing showcase, while channeling proceeds into Kahan's mental-health nonprofit gives the brand a charitable angle for a sold-out 4,000-capacity launch.
