Olivia Rodrigo and Noah Kahan have been mutual admirers for quite some time, and even covered each other’s songs during separate appearances last year on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. Last night (April 5) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the duo finally performed together during Rodrigo’s first of four shows at the venue when they teamed up for Kahan’s hit single “Stick Season.”
Amid nearly deafening sing-a-longs from the crowd, Rodrigo and Kahan traded off on vocals on the track, which finds the bummed-out narrator trying to eke out an existence in Vermont until his “friends come home for Christmas.” Afterwards, Kahan wrote on X that Rodrigo “is such a special talent and person and I just can’t thank her and her band and team for inviting me to sing tonight.”
On April 20, fans will have another opportunity to savor the Rodrigo/Kahan zeitgeist on a Record Store Day 7-inch vinyl single, which includes Rodrigo’s A-side cover of “Stick Season” and Kahan’s B-side version of Rodrigo’s “Lacy.” Rodrigo’s Live Lounge session was recorded in October 2023 at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Kahan taped his episode a few weeks later, and said beforehand that he hadn’t told Rodrigo he’d be covering one of her songs too.
“I was hoping she wouldn’t see it in case it was bad,” he said. “She’s going to find out eventually. I hope she likes it. I was so honored by her and so inspired by her.” Of Rodrigo’s take on “Stick Season,” he added, “honestly, I was just willing to give her ‘Stick Season’ as a song after that. Now I’ve got to try and match up to it.” He added that he chose “Lacy” since it “highlights what I love so much about Olivia’s lyricism. It’s very dynamic and it just makes you feel an emotion we’ve all experienced before.”
