I recently reconnected with singer/songwriter Noah Gittell on TikTok which touched off a series of coincidences. We had lost touch many years ago after he left Hoboken and I became a social hermit running my cafe. I was happy to see him pop up in my feed. A few days later, I received a notification that a spam comment was left on a post I had written back in August of 2006.
The post — ‘Is Talking Politics in a Bar Really Taboo?’ — was inspired by an evening spent at Carpe Diem in Hoboken. Noah was behind the bar. Myself and someone named Jack sidled up for some adult refreshments and conversation. Fast forward back to 2025 when I ran into Joe, the owner of Carpe Diem and relayed that story. We reminisced about how that night in question was month after they had opened and next year will be their twentieth anniversary.
This inspired me to reach out to Noah to see how he’s been. He relocated to Cleveland and — after a long hiatus — began making music again a just few years ago. And his newer songs do not disappoint. They have that same folky quality that I remember so well but with a new history behind them. Clever songs about daily life with tasteful hooks and catchy lyrics. Harmonized vocals tell heartfelt, real stories of a life being rebuilt accompanied by subtly sophisticated acoustic guitar.
One of the most impressive things to me is the ability for songs to sound original and be relatable at the same time. Over time, artists can fall into that trap of sounding redundant. However, Noah avoids this pitfall by trying to write something everyday. I know how tough that can be. Writer’s block can be quite a mountain to overcome, but hearing these songs tells me Noah has done just that.
Former critic and author. Now a troubadour. Tries to write a song every day.
’Woodbury’ is Noah’s latest of a recent string of original recordings available on Bandcamp. In addition, he’s just released a collection of Green Day covers (recorded live at Dunlap’s Corner Bar in Cleveland). Noah is also a writer and film critic whose book ‘Baseball: The Movie’ has garnered much praise.
“Finally, someone takes baseball movies seriously! Baseball: The Movie blends the passion of a fan with the rigorous analysis of a film critic to create a persuasive argument that the baseball movie matters—to baseball, to Hollywood, even to America.”
— Ben Mankiewicz, host, Turner Classic Movies
This is a great example of the potential good side of social media. A combination of gaming the algorithms and sheer luck helped old friends reconnect while exposing me to new music. Welp, now it looks like I’m adding Cleveland to my list of places to visit once I find a wealthy benefactor.
Links:
Noah Gittell (Bandcamp)
Noah Gittell (TikTok)
‘Baseball: The Movie’ (book by Noah Gittell)
