After a series of popular performances, singer-songwriter Rebecca Aadland will return to Crooners Supper Club for a concert on April 9. Photo: Sammie Jean
Singer-songwriter Rebecca Aadland returns to the recording booth.
Rebecca Aadland doesn’t just sing the songs she writes; she shares the life she’s lived. The Maple Grove singer-songwriter is busy working on her third album, an eclectic project that ultimately delivers the optimistic message that it’s never too late to begin again. “I started many things late in life,” Aadland says. As a licensed therapist, it’s something she sees many people struggle with. “I hope to help inspire others,” she says.
Aadland studied art at the University of Minnesota but later became a psychotherapist due to her fascination with human behavior. “I’m intrigued by what this life is for,” she says. “I always ask people all the time how they create their story. It’s a question not everybody likes, me included. Everyone has pain in their stories, and being vulnerable and sharing it might resonate with others and help them heal. I try to do that with my songs.”
Rebecca Aadland was born into a very musical family and demonstrated an aptitude for singing at an early age. Photo: Arthur Aadland
Her second album, Stronger Broken, put words to a painful series of events in Aadland’s life. Between 2018–19, she underwent critical heart problems that resulted in multiple open-heart surgeries. She spent six weeks in the ICU, and the staff at the Minneapolis Heart Institute later called her recovery a Christmas miracle. Aadland, in part, drew from this uncertain time to compose her second album, which was completed on March 23, 2022. That same day, Aadland lost her husband, Brian Tillotson, to sudden cardiac arrest. For the next year, she felt incapable of picking up her guitar, much less singing.
“When I got past the shock and trauma going on in my life, I knew I wanted to do a show with the wonderful musicians on my album,” Aadland says. Working through grief and self-doubt, Aadland began her return to the stage. She says it’s what Tillotson, who was her biggest fan, would want. “Every person who dares to get on a stage must go through these feelings,” Aadland says. “I knew I had to take a chance and let myself have the possibility of failure.” Shortly after that revelation, Aadland performed a sold-out show at Crooners Supper Club Main Stage in Minneapolis in 2023. “Right there was the miracle,” she says. “The show sold out, and everyone on the album said yes to joining me. It was incredible.”
Rebecca Aadland’s band at the sold-out Crooners Supper Club show in 2023 included Lantz Dale on guitar, Kelley Larson on backing vocals, Greg Schutte on drums, Jacqueline Ultan on cello and Paul Winchester on keyboard. Photo: Lindsay Marcy Design & Photography
Life threw another curveball, however, and Aadland was rushed to the hospital the night after the Crooners performance due to atrial fibrillation. Even with another gap in her performances, Aadland knows she has what it takes to return to the recording studio with her third album and eventually, to the main stage. She is determined not to let anything stand in her way.
The currently untitled album’s first single, I Could Use a Miracle, originally came from a place of grief after Tillotson’s untimely death. “The original lyrics were, ‘I could use a miracle / I lost the love of my life just a year ago’; it was therapy for me,” Aadland says. But that version of the song never came to fruition. Instead, Aadland took time to heal and allowed herself to seek love again. As her story evolved, so did the song, which is infused with a rock beat and newfound optimism. The first verse now goes, “Take me to green pastures and happy ever afters / Maybe it’s not too late for me / Show me where the dance is and sweet second chances / Could another love be there for me, could another love be there for me.”
Rebecca Aadland performed a sold-out show at Icehouse in Minneapolis on September 28, 2025.
As the new album develops, Aadland continues to seek out her next large performance while staying in practice with smaller cafe shows at venues like Aster Cafe in Minneapolis. She’ll return to the Crooner’s Main Stage on April 9 alongside her supporting band to release her second single, God Stuff. “I’m honored they’re playing with me again,” she says. “We make up a good ensemble.”
Aadland is excited for people to hear her latest project and hopes the new songs will resonate with others. “We can become bitter and resentful from horrible things that happen to us, or we can learn and grow in faith and hope,” she says. “My songs show [that] we can take pain and make it something … When people listen to my album, I hope I can be a piece of inspiration and transformation.”
Rebecca Aadland
Facebook: Rebecca Aadland Music
