The last time Hana Kahn performed at The Lizard Lounge, she sang Kesha’s new poetic warrior anthem “Praying.” But when the Boston singer returns to the Cambridge venue this weekend (December 15 and December 16), she’ll have an even more personal song in tow — her single “Find Me.”
A gripping insight into Kahn’s past (and into the void that we all slip into from time to time), Kahn recorded “Find Me” this past summer with engineer Nico Rivers. As she takes this stage this weekend for Ruby Rose Fox’s second annual holiday show and album fundraiser, she’ll be putting her own newly-written material on display, with “Find Me” as the centerpiece.
“I’ve become a fighter, a survivor, a thriver — but I didn’t always feel so strong,” Kahn explains. “The first 20 years of my life held encounters with mental illness and trauma that I barely found myself able to face. I had always expressed my thoughts and emotions through music and songwriting, but at 20, I launched a blog. This was my first foray into publicly stating my opinions on topics labeled taboo by our culture.”
From her experiences, “Find Me” unfolded, forming a new, empowered version of the way she viewed herself. The new single is the first of many to come within the next year, leading up to Kahn’s aptly-named debut full-length album Found, due out in 2019.
“About a year ago, a realization hit me: I was no longer a victim — I had become a survivor! And yet… I felt lost,” she adds. “‘Victim’ had become so deeply embedded in who I was, I didn’t know who I would be without it. As much as this was a positive transition, I felt the reality of the void we can experience when we undergo change — and that feeling turned into ‘Find Me.’ I wrote ‘Find Me’ as a way to openly discuss that void, and to ease the transition into finding who I would become without the ‘victim’ label. It has become my mission to both expand awareness and inspire self-love through my music.”
Paired with “Find Me,” Kahn’s upcoming shows act as a springboard for her new mission; after she shares her self-love gospel at the Lizard Lounge, she enters 2018 with an all-ages show February 3 at The Burren in Somerville in partnership with BARCC (Boston Area Rape Crisis Center).
“Once I began to publicly share my experiences, I faced the reality of how many people have been through similar struggles, and are still struggling behind closed doors,” Kahn says. “My mission became recovery: I wanted to find self-love so I could help others do the same through my music.”
HANA KAHN + RUBY ROSE FOX + AUBREY HADDARD + JOSH KNOWLES :: Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16 at The Lizard Lounge, 1667 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, MA :: 9 p.m., 21-plus, $20 :: Advance tickets: Night 1 + Night 2 :: Facebook event page :: Featured photo by by Savannah Daras
