Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Seth Harden, a LaGrange native, and Valley resident wants everyone to know that “everything’s okay.” 

Harden is a business owner in Valley, and he and his wife, Hannah, are house parents for Springwood School’s International students. On Friday, Harden got to share another passion of his, music. 

Harden performed songs from his latest album for the first time at Johnny’s Pizza in West Point. The album dropped the previous night, it was the first listen for many of the friends and family of Harden. Including two buses full of Springwood International students that came to support the House parent. 

The album contains 32 tracks ranging in genres, including country, rap, pop, and some songs in Spanish. It is titled “Where It Started.”

Harden started in LaGrange, somewhere, along with the Valley area, which has shaped him. He describes his style as “state-line music”.

“I grew up on this Georgia-Alabama state line hanging out in the city with friends, but then on the weekend going mud riding. That’s what this album represents,” Harden said.

Most of the songs are freestyles, Harden said he didn’t write anything down when creating the album. Keeping the event intimate, all the songs Harden performed were off of his phone, forgoing a large audio setup, “Just so that I can vibe with y’all,” Harden explained.

The musician is not unfamiliar with the big music production that comes with being in the business. His passion for music started young, as a result of hanging around his older brothers.

“They used to rap all the time and make music … My older brothers were a huge influence,” Harden said smiling. 

He said he was a troublemaker in school until a teacher at Callaway Middle School, Carrie Abbott, changed things. Abbott told a young Harden about a state-wide music competition, ushering him toward making his own music through rap. 

“I made a song, won the regional championship…I remember looking over the balcony and I looked at my dad and I was like, ‘I want to do this’,” Harden said. 

From there he got a movie deal and had a small role in the movie “Seeking Justice” starring Nicholas Cage. He signed a record deal soon after. He had some ups and downs in the music industry, separating from the label but getting nominated for a music award soon after. 

“Then I took some time off the music for a few years and that just gives me more to talk about, more to relate with and help other people that feel alone, hurt, broken,” Harden said. “I believe that that is what my music is for, and I had to go through things to get me there.”

As a result, “Where it Started,” is a deeply personal album; Harden said some of the people in his life may be surprised by the topics he included. He advises young musicians to do the same saying, “Talk about your actual life, if you’re going to make something, make something that will help someone else.”