Noah Kahan is an American singer and songwriter who was signed to Republic Records in 2017. He gained success with his single "Hurt Somebody", which achieved gold status in the United States and charted in several international markets. The single and EP of the same name were released before his debut album Busyhead (2018). In the following five years, he released two more albums: I Was / I Am (2020) and Stick Season (2022), which became his mainstream commercial breakthrough.

Kahan released his fan-favorite song "Stick Season" on July 8, 2022, which became his highest-charting song in the United States, peaking at number 2 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and number 12 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. Kahan's third studio album, also titled "Stick Season," was released on October 14, 2022, and was produced by Gabe Simon. The album features 14 tracks, with 10 songs self-written by Kahan and additional writing contributions from Iain Archer and Todd Clark. Kahan wrote this album during the pandemic while staying back home in Vermont. The album leans more into the folk genre than his previous pop-sounding music, and Kahan says that he wanted to pay homage to the folk singers he grew up listening to. The album debuted at number 14 on the US Billboard 200 and received critical acclaim. Kahan toured extensively with the album through 2022 and 2023, including three sold-out legs of his headlining Stick Season Tour, and he also opened for Dermot Kennedy's arena tour in the United Kingdom in the spring of 2023. On May 25, 2023, Kahan announced the release of the album's deluxe edition, which featured an additional seven songs and coincided with the standard edition's release on vinyl. In July 2023, Kahan collaborated with Post Malone on the song "Dial Drunk."