Love and Lust and Settled Dust
Born with music in her veins, Bethany Larson grew up in a musical family. She honed her craft and love for harmonies while singing in the family church in Austin, MN, where the music was steeped in old-time melodies. Choral music influenced her unique songwriting style and inspired Bethany to study classical voice briefly in college. In her early songwriting days, she performed with guitar in-hand to audiences at Twin Cities venues such as the original Acadia Cafe, Dunn Brothers, 331 Club and Shuga Records.
In 2011 she put a band together and released the album, When We Reach The City, to glowing reviews and exciting performance opportunities at local music enthusiast favorites: The Dakota, Turf Club, Varsity Theater, The Cedar Cultural Center, and many more. Unfortunately, times became tough for Bethany as she dealt with the effects of growing up with childhood trauma. She turned to alcohol and nearly lost her life from the addiction.
But Bethany is strong – she has come out on the other side. As she celebrates four years of sobriety, it’s finally time to express her strong feelings: The good, bad, angry, and angst through music. She now performs with her backing band, “The Bee’s Knees” – comprised of her brother Chris Larson on guitar, keyboard and backing vocals, Alicia Kay on bass and backing vocals, and Sara Horishnyk on drums. Bethany Larson & The Bee’s Knees will be returning to the studio to record a new album, titled: Love and Lust and Settled Dust in the winter of 2024.
This album is full of messages of survival, strength, and finding the power to make it through hard times. A survivor of sexual abuse, Bethany is a strong advocate for women’s rights, female empowerment, and support for all survivors of abuse.
The band is excited to be working with local Minneapolis producer Adam Levy, and Holly Hansen from Salon Sonics at the engineering helm. With the recent addition of a third vocalist, the band has really leaned into the power of the human voice and singing together. The album will feature strong three-part harmonies, and Bethany’s twang-inflected country rock song-writing — in the vein of Emmylou Harris and Brandi Carlile.