Savannah songwriter Harlan, Saved gets assist from his favorite band on debut album '1958'
Dylan Odom, aka Harlan, Saved, is living out his dream. The Savannah-based singer-songwriter has spent the better part of a decade writing and recording his debut album, “1958,” and finally released it this month.
Odom also recently formed a film production company, called 1958 Productions, that created two music videos to accompany the album release. The first video, for the song “Suitcases,” was inspired by his experience acting in the film “Peanut BSearch Assets utter Falcon” with Shia LeBouf. Odom and his crew even returned to all of the film’s locations for their video shoot.
Odom met LeBouf on the set of “Peanut Butter Falcon” shortly after LeBeouf’s infamous arrest at a Savannah hotel.
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“He and I were able to connect on a certain level,” recalled Odom. “I remember when we heard he got in trouble we thought the project would be scrapped because he was the lead. When he came in that first morning, people kind of flocked toward him because he’s done some big things. Just seeing his response to them coming up to him, I made a mental note that I wasn’t going to act that way towards him.
“When he came my way and spoke to me that first day we just connected and he was actually a genuine guy. It might not have seemed that way and it goes against public opinion, but the was very ashamed by the way he had behaved and he even expressed to me that his mom was speaking to him at the time and I could tell that really affected him. This to me was a real person and my encounters with other people who have made it anywhere in this business are the ones who are really stand offish and rude, and for him to be somebody who had been there and done that, he just didn’t have that about him. That really stood out with me. We’ve connected since and he’s an actual good guy.”
Harlan is Odom’s father’s middle name, and 1958 is the year he was born. Odom’s latest video, which features the singer performing in front of projected photos of his father reflects the driving force behind his music.
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“I wanted to make that one more universal for anyone who has experienced any kind of loss or grief,” explained Odom. “To me it was more personal because it was a tribute to my father. I was 17 when I found out he had Stage 4 lung cancer, so that threw me through a loop. I was 19 when he passed, and that inspired me to keep him with me and do a lot of different things to make him proud. I never just wanted to be the 9 to 5 guy. I wanted to stretch to do something bigger so that I would make him proud.”
Odom began playing music when he was 14-years-old after having coaxed his neighbor into giving him his guitar.
“There was a guy who lived next door that had this acoustic guitar in his living room that was pretty much a wall ornament and collected dust over the years,” Odom recalled. “Every time I went over there I wanted to play it but I didn’t know how. Finally, I got the nerve to knock on his door and ask if there was someway I could do some chores to get the guitar from him. He told me if I cut his grass three times over the summer that he would let me have it.”
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Another inspiration for Odom’s music is his relationship with his favorite band, Philadelphia folk trio Good Old War, who he discovered during his formative high school years. “It felt like a movie moment for me because I felt like if there was anyway a sound could describe a person, Good Old War describes me,” said Odom.
For years, Odom went to every Good Old War in Georgia until they began speaking to each other after shows. Their friendship eventually developed into a working relationship.
“To go your whole life, having been able to meet your favorite band, let alone having them work with you on your very first album is pretty storybook,” said Odom. “I was flattered, honored, and humbled by those guys, to be able to do that.”
Good Old War’s Danny Black provided harmonies and some guitar solos to “1958” and Tim Arnold played drums and percussion. Black also helped Odom with his songwriting process.
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“Some of these songs were written over ten years ago and have been rehashed several times and have sounded different each time, but they eventually fell back into what they always sounded like,” said Odom. “Danny has always encouraged me to rip apart every song and if you rebuild it and it sounds the same, it was always meant to be.
“At heart, this is a D.I.Y. album. It makes it even more special to me that I was able to do this with my all time favorite band. This was written and recorded in our homes, our houses, our bedrooms, over the last couple of years, on songs that were written in our homes and bedrooms over ten years ago.”
With the release of “1958,” multiple music videos, and airplay on Q105.3, Odom is thrilled to have finally reached the end of this ten year journey, and hopes that others will be inspired to pursue their dreams, as well.
“I felt for so long like this was never going to happen for me, and I really I wanted to use whatever platform I could to really let people know that I did grow up in the same town as you,” said Odom. “I went to the same school with the same troubles and this is not something you cannot also do. This is your sign to do that thing, whatever it is you want to do. I want people to take away from this, that I am no different and you can also do this.”
“1958” by Harlan, Saved is available on all streaming platforms.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Harlan, Saved singer Dylan Odom talks debut album, '1958'
