Daniel Kahn is a Detroit-born troubadour, songwriter, poet, and multi-instrumentalist. He studied theatre and poetry at the University of Michigan and moved to Berlin in 2005. He is the founder of the band The Painted Bird, is active in other musical projects, and works at the Maxim Gorki Theater as a musician, composer, director, writer, and actor, among other positions. He is a co-founder of the Yiddish cultural festival Shtetl Berlin. Khan lives in Hamburg with his partner, the dancer, translator, and video artist Yeva Lapsker, and their son.

As of February 2024