Singer-songwriter Noah Derksen may be a new face to Biff Bam Pop, but the Winnipeg-based folk crooner is no stranger to the music scene. With his auburn locks and easy charm, he certainly catches the eye. He’s cute! But more importantly, his music captivates the soul. His latest release stolen serenades is a stunning collection of cover songs, featuring heartfelt renditions of classics from Leonard Cohen, Macy Gray, U2, and more.
A past recipient of Canadian Folk Music’s Emerging Artist of the Year and a SiriusXM Top of the Country finalist, Derksen has been steadily making a name for himself as a songwriter’s songwriter. Drawing from years of crisscrossing North America and Europe, he weaves poetry into melody with a rich, soulful voice that feels instantly familiar. We had the chance to sit down with Noah to discuss the process behind making stolen serenades, what makes a great lyric, his experiences touring overseas, and more.
JG: stolen serenades is a deeply personal collection of covers. How did you go about selecting those particular songs?
Noah Derksen: I had a list of maybe 15 to 20 songs that I whittled down. I had thought of this project years ago, taking a collection of songs that have basically shaped me as a songwriter. And so the list started really big and then gradually narrowed down.
Once we got into the studio, we had a list of ten songs in total. And at the end, we settled on seven. But these are all songs that have come to me throughout my life. Some of them, through my journey as a songwriter. Some of them were from early on when I was a kid. I grew up listening to Leonard Cohen, for example. My dad introduced me to Leonard Cohen in the car on road trips, but it wasn’t until I saw Leonard Cohen play in my hometown of Winnipeg when I was 19. Seeing that concert and seeing Leonard Cohen up on stage, I found it so inspiring, and it made me wanna start writing songs myself. So, yeah, these are a handful of songs that I’ve kind of taken from over the years, throughout my life, some earlier on, some in more recent times, but all songs that have been with me on my journey as a songwriter.
JG: When putting the list together of possible songs, was there one song that jumped out to you right away that you felt was essential to the project?
Noah Derksen: The Leonard Cohen song. We recorded ”If It Be Your Will” on this album. And for me, I feel like that song and Leonard Cohen in general embody the spirit of the project because Leonard Cohen has been such an influential figure to everybody. This is the second Leonard Cohen song that I’ve covered. The first one was on my first full-length album back in 2016. I covered “Suzanne.” But this song, “If It Be Your Will,” felt fitting. And there’s the spiritual component to that song as well that’s in a lot of Leonard Cohen songs, if not all of them. That gives a bit of a nod back to me and my religious upbringing and where songwriting started for me as a purpose of sorting through my thoughts and feelings and organizing them, and putting that onto the page.
JG: You mentioned how Leonard Cohen is beloved by so many people. What is it about his work that speaks to you in particular?
Noah Derksen: That’s a good question. I think, for me, it was the way he continued his craft until the end of his days. He was still releasing music and songs and exploring until he passed away.
I had heard his son Adam Cohen say in an interview with the CBC that Leonard was one of the only or one of the few artists that was still touring and performing and making music not just based on nostalgia. I fell in love with Leonard Cohen’s music and songs in his last few records. Afterward, I went back to some of his classics and earlier works. There’s something timeless about it, but also something so human about his work and how he kept exploring life in these topics of spirituality, of sexuality, of all sorts of stuff. Being at his show when I was 19, and he was a 110, give or take, he was still jumping up on stage and seemed so in the moment, so present with his band, with the audience and in such a giving spirit. It’s impossible not to be completely absorbed into the world of an artist who does that.
JG: Covering a song can be an act of tribute or it could be a total transformation or something in between. What was your approach to reinterpreting these songs while still honoring their original spirit?
Noah Derksen: The way we recorded this was similar to how we’ve recorded the last few albums. There’s a collection of musicians that I’ve worked with in Winnipeg for many years. We wanted to interpret these songs and do them justice, but also interpret them in my way and make these songs my own. We gathered in Cody’s living room with the band, everybody in the room at the same time, and just played the songs until they felt right.
There was one song in particular that didn’t make it onto the record that we just felt like if we tried to record it, it would be the same as the original but worse. It was a Rose Cousins song. She lives in Nova Scotia now. It just felt like we wouldn’t be doing it justice and that we would just be trying to copy what she had done because what she had done with the production on that song was just so great, and we wouldn’t be able to change it enough to make it feel like me. We’re just trying to interpret them and find a way to make it feel like it was my voice and fit in my world. I worked with phenomenal musicians, trusted their judgment and guided the process. We worked together to find something that both sounded good and felt good, for my tastes.
JG: You’ve covered songs by some of the greatest singers and songwriters, and your own music has a really poetic quality to it. What do you think makes a lyric stand the test of time?
Noah Derksen: For me, if a song is good, it makes you wanna come back to it. And every time you come back, you get something new out of it, so it never stays the same. It’s always evolving. I had this experience listening to the new Leif Vollebekk record.
All of these songs are in that same vein where you listen to them a thousand times, and every time, they mean something different to you. Whether you’re in a different emotional space or it’s a different time of your life or just something pops out at you differently. But just the ability to hear something differently, no matter how many times you listen to it.
JG: It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion.
Noah Dersksen: So to speak. I once heard a songwriter describing their approach to songwriting and viewing their songs as a sculpture in the center of the room. You can walk around the room, and no matter where you stand, you’ll be able to view it and have your own perspective on it. I’ve always liked that. I’ve always liked that thought of my songs being for everybody, and depending on where you’re at and what side of the room you’re standing, you can view it in a different way, and it can speak to you in a different way.
JG: Totally. Your music has taken you across North America and Europe. Have you discovered any surprising pockets of folk music culture that resonated with you along the way? Or any interesting observations about the audiences you’ve been performing to in these different markets?
Noah Derksen: Well, we just got back from Europe. This was my first headlining tour in Europe. Mostly in Germany, but we ducked into Denmark, a bit in the Netherlands and into Vienna as well. But this was my first headlining tour. I’ve done some opening support slots for Ariel Posen, who I just had coffee with. I was really blown away on this tour, specifically.
I’ve been making music and playing music and writing songs for over ten years now. European audiences or the German audiences in particular, Germany is known for its stereotypically very efficient and orderly society. And with the audiences, you see that embodiment of that German spirit. There’s a tremendous respect for arts and culture. People come to shows and have done their research of translated songs; they understand the ins and outs of every lyric and what the story is. Then they come, and they’ll stand there and look at you the whole show and pay attention and not say a single word. Sometimes that’s a little intimidating, but really it’s a brilliant place.
Maybe what I’ve been reflecting on is the role of art and music in a culture and how coming from Canada, the type of music and the role that it plays is different in every country and every region. I’d heard a stat somewhere that the people in Canada, the primary reason why they go to a concert is to socialize and spend time with their friends. My experience of touring in Canada is that people come to be together, which is a beautiful thing, and the music sometimes feels secondary to that. When touring in Europe for about a month, it seemed like there is a culture of people going out and spending more time together more often. So when they go to a show, the purpose of going to a concert is to go to and soak in the music. If they wanna socialize with their friends, they’ll do that at a different time or afterward. The jury’s still out. I think more research is necessary.
Just getting a sense of every region and how they respond to music or how a crowd acts and interacts with the artist has been interesting. I found this in Oslo when I played there a year ago. The Norwegians are a very reserved people, and they don’t clap. They don’t clap very loudly. If I’m trying to tell a joke or say something stupid on stage, I get a lot of polite stares back. So when I first played in Oslo, I had interpreted that as everybody hates this. Nobody’s into this because it was so different from Stockholm, which we’d played the night before. But then I went to the merch table afterwards, and dozens of people came up and said that they loved it and even people that have been listening to my music since 2016. It’s almost like the superpower of being a musician is your empathy or your emotional intuition to get a feeling of the emotional pulse of a room. And sometime,s if you’re not used to that culture, it can feel a little disarming.
It’s been a beautiful thing over the last few years to discover the role of music in every culture as I tour more outside of North America.
JG: Just curious. What’s the music scene like in Winnipeg?
Noah Derksen: Winnipeg is a phenomenal place to exist as an artist. The calibre of musicianship is just second to none. But the biggest thing Winnipeg has going for it, not just in its music scene but also the city of Winnipeg as a whole, is the strength of its community.
Winnipeg is a city in the middle of nowhere, where nobody outside has ever once thought about Winnipeg. It feels like this forgotten place where anything important happens so unbelievably far away. The nearest city of similar size is in the States. Minneapolis is a nine-hour drive. Calgary is a thirteen or fourteen-hour drive. So Winnipeg is this landlocked island.
To survive, you just have to band together. Especially with the harsh winters. The music scene here makes everybody better. It’s inspiring to be a part of. So this record, along with the last few records that I’ve made, is a celebration of the Winnipeg music community. Every day that we were in the studio, I was just seeing who was available. Get Austin for guitar. If he’s on tour, then call Chris. Call Dylan. And then, if all else fails, Joey Landreth was comically the last call on this for playing guitar on this record because everybody else was out of town. And he’s one of the better guitar players in the world. But yeah, Winnipeg is a really strong community, and I’m grateful to play a very small part in it.
JG: Lastly, what’s next for you? You’ve got great new artist management. Are you already working on new material? Planning more shows going forward?
Noah Derksen: Mostly just spinning around in a circle and throwing darts at the wall. Not really. We recorded a brand new record in Winnipeg over the summer and so we’re just in the finishing phases of mixing that record, and we’ll be releasing that sometime in 2026. Right now, it’s just in the planning phase of the next tours and getting back to Europe. I’m working with my booking agent there to get back to Europe.
Just keep going. Sometimes it’s tough to see progress in the music industry and I’m really grateful to be where I am today. But sometimes, on a day-to-day basis, you don’t necessarily see that progress. Then you look back on the year, and you think, oh, you know what? I’ve done a lot, I’ve grown a lot, and I’ve met a lot of really cool people, and it’s been really inspiring. For now, I’m just focusing on the day-to-day, trying to keep singing, trying to keep writing, and trying to talk about interesting things with interesting people over coffee. The simple things.
Listen to Noah Derksen’s new cover album stolen serenades here.
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