Harmony LaBeff

Yes, it's his real name. No, his parent's weren't hippies. Call it fate if you will but his mom would call it prophetic. His mother Brenda, born in Harmony, Minnesota, was always dreadfully embarrassed of her small town upbringing until the night she met a young rock-n-roller, on tour with rockabilly giant, Sleepy LaBeef, his father. His name was Harmony and after romancing, finding Jesus, and marrying, Brenda had her first son within that year--another Harmony LaBeff. One may think that the son of two generations of guitar-slinging, rock-n-roll singers, would inevitably embrace the blessings and burdens of the LaBeff legacy. But the fruition of his voice as a singer and writer was a tumultuous and uncertain growth out of soil rich in religion and rebellion. It was this convergence of contradictions that repelled and eventually reconciled Harmony to music making. The magic of his parents' meeting, and his mom’s Sunday school teaching nurtured Harmony’s belief in extraordinary imaginings. But music was not among them. Growing up in a fire and brimstone church and witnessing the slow-burning destruction of his parents' marriage on the altar of his father’s rock-and-roll lifestyle, weeded out any desire to adopt his dad‘s dream. Like many boys seeking affirmation and acceptance Harmony’s creative energies were focused on athletics and academics. However, his worst grades, “N’s” for "Needs Improvement," were in early music classes where he was often reprimanded for changing song lyrics to get laughs from his classmates. Harmony dreamt of being an NBA All-Star. But in an ironic twist, Harmony was diagnosed with a severe spinal curve at the age of 13 and shortly thereafter underwent a spinal fusion. His dreams of athletic stardom were dispelled as he was told to prepare for a future using his brain since he would never be fit for manual labor. Disappointed with life, Harmony entered the stormy years of high school holding back a hurricane of heartbreak. Then, on a visit to his dad's during his freshman year, Harmony found himself doing something he had never cared to do before--playing guitar. From that first lesson with his dad bloomed an insatiable need to learn more. He borrowed books, auditioned into jazz band, and learned from one of his dad’s band members who recognized Harmony's talent and need, and gave him his first acoustic guitar. This in turn opened the door for him to explore the then budding acoustic folk-rock music of Dave Matthews, the Goo Goo Dolls, Jars of Clay and Jewel. It was in this intimate tone and introspective delivery that Harmony discovered a means to unburden his soul. Yet the pressure of following in the footsteps of a performing father and grandfather, had kept most of Harmony's singing closeted. Still, Harmony dared to audition into his high school's select choir and it was there that he received his first formal vocal training. Soon after he was placing in regional and state solo performance competitions and in his senior year he won the school’s talent show with an original song. The ensuing response from his peers and teachers served as a catalyst that moved him from music as mere hobby to performing as a lifetime pursuit. Harmony went on to study voice and music at North Central University on both academic and musical scholarships and graduated with honors at the top of his class. While there, Harmony began the battle of making peace between the sacred and the secular and found that both the so-called meta-physical, and the seemingly mundane were abundant in meaning and worthy of music. It is both from and toward this resolution of tensions that Harmony has been driven to learn and create. Nicknamed the “lyrical assassin” by musician friends, Harmony has the gift of phrasing, timing, pacing and rhyming. His lyricism speaks to both the spiritual and the sensual in a manner that is never inaccessible. With the conviction of his mother’s Gospel-hymn singing and the spirit of his father’s roots-rock showmanship, Harmony's performance is pure passion. Reverberating grace and soul, Harmony’s voice leaves stillness in its wake like two well-worn wings bearing an almost angel. With growing acclaim in the Twin Cities, Harmony is prepared for a promising future. His style is an uncomplicated unity of the diverse sounds that shaped his musical history: call it alt-pop, folk-rock or acoustic hip-hop; he calls it singer-songwriter. You’ll know it’s Harmony.

n one rapturous momentin spite of the scars, the terror on TV and the nay saying of intellectualsyou believe. This cannot be mere chemical coincidence. Surely there’s more at work here than a fortunate but fleeting assembly of atoms and energy. LOVE! Love is real. Love is through you, love is in and in front of you, embodied in all of her perfect imperfections. You know it now. You’ve touched and tasted it. And once the eyes of your heart have seen, this mysterious truth begins to spring out all around you in surprising and exhilarating ways. The world has become magical. Every person you meet is a miracle. Life is an adventure in the making. The cynics will scoff, the scientists will speculate. But no one can dissuade you from what you now know to be true. Love Is Not an Accident.

Chicago, IL

U2, Switchfoot, Seven Day Jesus, Coldplay, Muse, Radiohead, Incubus, Jeff Buckley, Ben Harper, Lauryn Hill, India Arie, Fiona Apple, Derek Webb, Johnny Lang, John Mayer, Brian McKnight, Maxwell, Seal, Sting, Jewel, Bob Schneider, Lenny Kravitz, Alison Krauss, Sarah Groves, Duncan Sheik, Ryan Williams, Jeremy Messersmith, Amaryah, Counting Crows, Vertical Horizon, Jimmy Eat World, Tonic, Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters, Everclear, Bush, The Wallflowers, Blues Traveler, Live, Gin Blossoms, Goo Goo Dolls, Nickel Creek, Arrested Development, GRITS, North Central University Concert Chorale, Motown, Central High School Jazz Band, C.S. Lewis, Calvin Miller, Donald Miller, Phillip Yancey, John Fischer, Paul of Tarsus, Dave Pedde, my family, best friends, ex-es, the 90s, Trent Redmann, Bob Dykstra, good books, good hooks, the good news, heartbreaks, big mistakes