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Kevin Odegard (September 30, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for his guitar accompaniment on Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks.

Early life and education
He grew up in Princeton, Minnesota, and by junior high school had decided that he wanted to be a singer-songwriter. He was motivated by Minnesota groups such as The Gestures and David Rivkin's Chancellors. A later impetus for his songwriting was listening to Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone in 1965. He later dropped out of University of Minnesota, hitchhiked to Greenwich Village, sang in folk clubs, toured, had some air time, and had an album deal. After a year he could not make ends meet, and he took a day job as a railroad brakeman, returning to Minnesota. In December, 1974, watching an episode of Kojak, he received a phone call. He thought it was from the railroad company, and only belatedly pick it up. The call was from David Zimmerman, Bob Dylan's younger brother. He had previously run into Dylan several times, including at High Holiday services and knew David and their mother. He describes himself as being in the "extended circle" of the family. David Zimmerman was his manager at the time; and, he played at a Zimmerman family wedding in early 1974 where he sang Forever Young, just released by Dylan who was just a few feet away.

Work with Bob Dylan
David had an unusual request. Could he find a small body Martin guitar with gut strings. Zimmerman would not tell him why, but Odegard suspected it was for Bob, who frequently visited family over the holiday season. He found it quickly and was told to bring it to Studio 80 in Minneapolis the next day, and not tell anybody. Odegard learned the next day that Dylan was unhappy with five of the songs he had recorded in New York for a new album soon to be released, Blood on the Tracks. Dylan and his brother felt the album lacked vitality. David had experience with the local Minnesota music scene, and with Odegard's assistance a group of six musicians was assembled to be the backup band for doing five songs over. Odegard played guitar on Tangled Up In Blue. After an early take on this recording, Dylan asked Odegard what he thought; Odegard said it was passable, but recommended that the song be sped up and for Dylan to pitch his voice up a key, which Dylan did. Obergard observed that it gave the song more urgency, and "Bob started reaching for the notes. It was like watching Charlie Chaplin as a ballet dancer." They did a single take and moved on to the next song. The five cuts the group did have been called the heart and soul of the album. Blood in the Tracks is now ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the ten best of all time; and Tangled Up in Blue has been considered a candidate for Dylan's greatest song.

Later Career
The album was released a month later. It was too late to change the record jacket, and the six young Minnesota artists didn't get credit for their work. Odegard felt that this mistake would be fixed shortly, but it was not updated on further releases. Obergard felt an obligation to fix this, as he had brought in three of the band members. He worked for the change, and on the 2018 release of More Blood, More Tracks, 43 years late, finally did the Minnesota musicians get their credits for the album.

Odegard performed with the KO band in the upper Midwest in the 1970s, which included Jeff Dayton and David Z. (Copied content from Jeff Dayton; see that page's history for attribution.)

He describes his experience playing guitar on Blood on the Tracks as "the defining moment of [his] journey into the music business proper." He later moved to Los Angeles. He became active in the National Academy of Songwriters and was national director 1984–1994. The experience also led him to become an advocate for songwriters rights.

Personal
Oderberg is retired, has two children and lives with his wife on a houseboat in Florida. In 2005 he was a member of a Temple Israel congregant humanitarian mission in Cuba, bringing 1000 pounds of medical supplies to the island, and, also, to support the Cuban Jewish community. With Andy Gill in 2004 he wrote A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of "Blood on the Tracks," Da Capo Press.