The art of connecting: Singer-songwriter Jonah Kagen keeps it personal when making music, set to perform at KiMo

Jonah Kagen is in Napa, California – a long way from his upbringing in Georgia.

Though he’s away from home on tour, he’s enjoying his time on the road.

“It’s a weird sort of imposter life that I seem to be living,” the singer-songwriter says. “This is my third tour that I’ve done and I have a taste for life on the road. It makes it easier when you have good people around you. On this tour, I’m able to actually meet people and learn more about them.”

Kagan, 23, will make a stop at the KiMo Theatre on Monday, Nov. 6, where he is opening for Phillip Phillips.

Kagan grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and took up guitar at the age of six, diving deep into the instrument’s technical aspects after his jazz musician grandfather showed him performance videos.

He further found inspiration in the music of guitarist Andy McKee, whose finger-style technique lit a creative fire within.

“He opened my eyes to what an acoustic guitar could be,” Kagan says. “If you can bring somebody something with your music that they can’t get anywhere else, there’s nothing better than that.”

Kagan released his debut EP, “georgia got colder” in December 2022. In a year’s time, he has already had over 200 million global streams and over 2 million monthly listeners.

The art of connecting: Singer-songwriter Jonah Kagen keeps it personal when making music, set to perform at KiMo

“Made Up My Mind,” set to release Friday, Nov. 10, is the last single of Kagen's upcoming EP.

The accompanying video was directed/shot/edited by David Od in Nashville, Tennessee, who took another creative approach for a one-take video with Kagen.

“It was very cold,” Kagan says of the video shoot, which required him to be submerged in water. “It wasn’t the most comfortable part of the shoot. I never want to be a bad sport about it, and it was comically cold by the end. Beauty is pain.”

When writing “Made Up My Mind,” Kagan says the song is the only co-write he has on the EP.

“It was the first co-write I’d done in a long time,” he says. “I sat in the room with the right people, and we were talking about weird stuff, like all the existential crises that plague us every day. I started to write about that. Lily really brought it to life once she put her voice to the track.”

With the EP about to be released for nearly a year, Kagan says he’s finishing the next body of work.

Once again, he’s been introspective in his writing because it’s his way of connecting to an audience.

“I find that the topics and lyrics that scare me are the ones that make an impact,” he says. “The reward of bearing your soul is significantly greater than any sort of emotional risk for me. That’s the sacrifice that you make for bringing something for people to connect to. The music isn’t for me. I see my music as a service job because I have the desire to tell these stories and bear my soul.”

As Kagen spends more time in the music industry, he’s learned to cut himself some slack when it comes to music.

“I’ve gotten comfortable with who I am as an artist,” he says. “I continue to evolve. I’ve learned to embrace the flaws within me, and that’s what helps me connect to people. When you see me on stage, I’m ready to take that journey with each audience.”