Jonah Kagen shares his new single/video, “The Roads,” out July 7th on Arista Records. “The Roads” was written by Jonah and co-produced with Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile, Vance Joy, Zach Bryan).
Opening with soft acoustic guitar and Jonah’s comforting yet commanding vocals, the song gradually builds into a rousing folk-rock number. Fueled by a deep sense of nostalgia, Jonah’s lyrics capture the emotional intricacies of life’s transitional moment.
“’The Roads’ is one of those songs I feel like I’ve been working toward for so long,” Jonah writes. “It’s the culmination of so much heartbreak, so much growing up, and so much learning. Some of my favorite lyrics and sounds I’ve ever created are in this song, and I think the story speaks for itself—I hope you can feel the years of emotion and human experience pouring out in it.”
After wrapping up his European tour with Anson Seabra, Jonah headed to The Cotswolds, a strikingly picturesque area of Southern England, to film “The Roads” music video. The video was directed by David Od (Coin, Noah Kahan) who also worked on Jonah’s “18” music video.
The 23-year-old singer and songwriter 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,” he recalls, as he dove deeper into creating music on his own. “If you can bring somebody something with your music that they can’t get anywhere else, there’s nothing better than that.”
Jonah’s debut EP, ‘georgia got colder,’ was released in December 2022 on Arista Records. He’s already cut impressive figures with over 140+ million global streams, a US tour supporting Maisie Peters, nearly 2 million Spotify monthly listeners, and was included on Shazam’s 2023 predictions list. An exciting new voice bringing an undeniable energy and sincerity through his multifaceted sound, Jonah Kagen is undoubtedly an artist on the rise.
“The Roads” will be out on all streaming platforms on July 7th.