Musician Jonah Kagen on Van Life 

Touring & Making Music In An Airstream Trailer

Jonah Kagen is a lone wolf. The super-talented 24-year-old singer-songwriter who boasts 215 million global streams and nearly 2.5 million monthly Spotify listeners has decided to live full-time, tour the country, and record his music in a 2019 Airstream he bought in the spring of 2024. 

Touring With The Animals

The “wolf” part of the term “lone wolf” evokes a rough-and-tumble edge, but in person, Kagen is quite the opposite. While describing one of his favorite moments touring in his Airstream, he paints a picture where he is more Dr. Dolittle than Big Bad Wolf.

“I was looking for a spot when I got to Nashville and found someone offering up this little plot on their farm; they said, ‘yeah, come on and stay a couple nights.’ I got out there and it ended up being massive, almost like a retreat. And for whatever reason, animals came. I was working in the Airstream and I had donkeys come up, I had horses come up, I had cows—little baby cows—come up. A bunch of kittens were jumping in, and four Anatolian Shepherds were running around and coming by to give love. It was just unbelievable because it was so… unspoken. I was just sitting there, petting the donkey while I was working on my album.” 

Music & Life On Wheels

Much like his approach to living, Kagen’s music is boundaryless. He blends indie, folk, pop, and a bit of country with illustrative, heart-wrenching lyrics and catchy hooks. Many would think that recording in the Airstream he lives and tours in would limit the process, but Kagen feels it adds more interest and layers to his already multi-dimensional sound.

“It's changed a few things. I don't necessarily know that the music has changed nearly as much as my perspective on life and the world and this country and everything has changed. I've gotten to meet wonderful people and see amazing places. I think that comes through in the music since I record everything in the Airstream as well.” 

Jonah Kagen’s go-with-the-flow approach also translates to the technical side of his music. 

“When I was learning how to produce, it was early on, when very polished pop was what I was listening to on the radio. If you record on an expensive microphone in a sound-treated room, there is no external noise, there's nothing. And what the Airstream did was interrupt that perspective for me because it made it so that you can't do it perfectly in there. So, you get creative and just see what opportunities present themselves every now and again. You'll hear something fall in the background or I'll leave the door open and you hear the outdoors. Some things—like the animals from that farm—I find to be very human, and these types of things make the recordings really special.” 

What's Down The Road?

Jonah Kagen may not be lone-wolfing it for long. He’s planning on adding an adventure partner in the near future. “There's a rescue called Wags and Walks in Nashville. They have an amazing program. They know that I'm waiting for the end of the tour to come around so that I can hopefully get a puppy and take him around everywhere with me. So, soon it'll be just me and the little dude.” 

Keep up with Jonah by visiting jonahkagen.com.