“It was a spontaneous combustion getting out of me,” musician Savanna Dickhut, who performs as Burr Oak, said about writing her music. “I’m just throwing up songs.”
And indeed, one can perceive the raw, unfiltered emotions running through each lyric of her first solo single, “Southsider.” Released only a few weeks ago, “Southsider” shows the promise of a songwriter sure of her voice and sound, one that is piercing and deeply relatable and authentic. It is, undoubtedly, one of the best local singles of the year.
Before Burr Oak was ever a full-fledged solo project, Dickhut began writing songs. Songwriting was always an outlet for her. “I honestly learned how to play guitar as an aid to learn how to express my feelings,” she said. But around eight months ago, during what would become the end of a tumultuous relationship, Dickhut began writing the first lyrics of “Southsider.”
“I was scared because I knew what I was writing felt like it’s confirming that we’re going to break up,” she said. Dickhut says the lyrics “flowed” out of her, and although the words were “dramatic,” they felt true to her emotions at the time. “That song was almost validation to me. Like, OK, I need to part ways with this person and really just be strong enough,” she said. “The song actually made me stronger.”
Still, it took awhile for her to feel confident enough to release “Southsider.” The song’s appeal lies in its honesty. Rather than skirt around the intricate emotions of a disintegrating relationship, Dickhut leans in to them, making the song better for it. A quick listen confirms this.
After some deliberation and encouragement, Dickhut decided to do something more with the song. “I was like, this can’t be another song of me sitting in my room, writing in my diary, having it never be heard again. And then I showed it to a few people and they were like, you really need to put it out there,” she added.
A band was soon formed and “Southsider,” as well as second single “Rosemary” (scheduled to drop in the next few weeks) were recorded in Dickhut’s home in two days this past April. “I was just super hungry, just eager,” she began. “Honestly, because I was so depressed, I needed this music to be out there to feel like I was complete. I needed that for myself. It was kind of a selfish thing.”
Now that her songs are out in the world, Dickhut said she feel “validated.”
“They are really personal (songs). I’m ripping pages out of my diary and saying, ‘Here it is. Here’s how I really feel,'” she began. “I feel good and I feel happy, and I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can finally breathe.”
“Rosemary,” she said, comes from just as raw of a place as “Southider.” After meeting someone and going through a “crazy, toxic, weird, not-even-relationship,” Dickhut felt consumed by the energy of their partnership. “I still don’t know if I want to put it out, but I’m going to,” she said, pushed by her bandmate Andrew, who helped her write the track.
She hopes to release a full-length project, either an EP or an album, some time this winter, while the momentum and emotions of Burr Oak are still fresh and the songs continue to flow out of her. But until then, she’ll continue slowly releasing tracks, and finding an audience eager to consume then. “We want to feel something, and I feel like I felt something when I wrote these songs,” she began. “I’ve learned to be confident in my ability to just do this. I feel better than I ever have, and I’m ready to just keep doing this.”
Britt Julious is a freelance writer.
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When: 9 p.m. Aug. 15
Where: The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave.
Tickets: $8 (21+); hideoutchicago.com
