Noah Kahan believes he would never have been the artist that he is, if his mother, Lauri Berkenkamp, hadn’t brought him up the way she did.
The 29-year-old folk-pop musician contributed to the book What I Learned From Mom which includes essays from public figures – including Kaia Gerber, Cindy Crawford, Chelsea Clinton, and more.
For his essay, the Northern Attitude hitmaker wrote that one of the lessons he has always remembered from his mom is “You don’t have to like everyone, but you have to be kind,” as per People Magazine.
In an excerpt from the book, Kahan writes, “My mother’s belief in kindness was too firmly planted to be disrupted by my challenges of ‘But what if they really suck?’ and ‘Even if they’re a serial killer?’ I knew what she meant. Kindness was a sacred pillar in her worldview and an undeniable constant in the way my mother approached the world.”
The Strawberry Wine singer continued to share that his mom made no discriminations over who she extended her kindness to, and that was the case with his dreams to become a musician as well.
Kahan added that his mom sat through several sessions of him singing out of tune, drove him to and from open-mic sessions at hotels and clubs where he could hone his craft for singing.
Not only did Berkenkamp nurture her kid’s passion for the craft, she also helped him with writing.
Recalling a fond memory, Kahan wrote, “Occasionally, during my mid-teens, I would be stuck on a certain word, unable to figure how to complete a rhyme while staying within the parameters of the larger lyrical concept. I would roll it around in my head and on my tongue for hours, literally banging my head against my desk until I could no longer think without my brain hurting. I would wander downstairs, distracted, and my mom would ask what I was working on up in my bedroom. I’d tell her I was stuck on a word to complete a rhyme and then I’d speak out the problem lyric to her. Almost instantly she would have the answer. I like to think she enjoyed the exercise of writing ‘with me,’ so to speak. That she enjoyed the teaching and the helping and the editing and the encouraging.”
Besides being a mom, Berkenkamp taught English at the University of Vermont and wrote 13 books, which became the reason she was able to help Kahan in writing his songs.
“I could use the proof of her love for me as a way to find my own love for what I was doing and could use that belief as a reason to keep going,” Kahan wrote of his mom.
The book What I Learned From Mom comes out on March 31.
