As both a lover of music that harkens back to a bygone age and a person who has called Western Canada and the American mid-west home, Little Miss Higgins has plenty to choose from when it comes to songwriting material.
Born in Brooks, raised in Kansas and now calling Saskatchewan home, Little Miss Higgins (Jolene), plays the Canmore Miners’ Union Hall as part of the Live on 7th concert series, Sunday, Jan. 30. Higgins will be joined by her partner Foy Taylor on guitar and Joey Lorer on bass.
“We’ll be in Canmore as part of a short, two-week tour,” said Higgins. “We’re really looking forward to playing there.”
Higgins, who has won awards from Toronto’s Indie Awards for blues, been nominated for Maple Blues Awards and Junos and won a Western Canadian Music Award for the blues, started in music at the age of four when her father bought a mini grand piano.
She’s been playing and singing ever since; learning to play her mainstay, the guitar, then studying music and drama at the B.C. Conservatory of Music on Vancouver Island.
With all that musical background, and influences ranging from Joni Mitchell to Billie Holiday, it’s no wonder Higgins has released three critically acclaimed albums – Cobbler Shop Sessions (2006), Junction City (2007), Live (2009) and Across The Plains (2010).
Her music, which spans blues, folk and roots genres, is upbeat, lively and brings to mind updated big band tunes from the early part of the past century. Some songs are funny, “Bargain Shop Panties” and “Glad Your Whiskey Fits in My Purse”, some quirky “The Tornado Song”, or of a historical nature, “Snowin’ Today: A Lament for Louis Riel”.
“I didn’t really start songwriting until I was 17 or 18. It wasn’t until high school that I ventured into those areas and songwriting worked its way into the scene.”
In writing and performing music that could be described as throwback in style, Higgins said “I always appreciated that kind of music. It was an older, classier style and I continued to appreciate it.
“When I started playing guitar, I started to embrace more roots and bluesy-country music. It’s music from the early 1900s and I just think there was a lot of great music happening in that part of the century.
“When I lived in Kansas in the ‘80s there was a lot of country and pop/rock on TV and radio, so I had to seek out the music I liked best.
“It wasn’t until I moved back to Western Canada that I found, surprisingly, there was a great roots and blues scene. I got out and saw a lot of great music.”
Higgins has been working to build a fan base by playing live in pubs and at festivals across the country while offering her own expression of blues stylings from the past.
On-stage, Higgins performs mostly original music, though she also tosses in some music by older artists.
When penning tunes, she said she simply tries to, “stay open and be in the moment. I try to embrace things as they present themselves. If I really have to work on something, or there’s a song I need for an album, I really work on it; but if not, I just let things be and jot something down to work on later.”
While not trained specifically as a singer, Higgins said she learned mostly by emulating those she favoured; listening to albums, “and trying to match my voice to theirs. I used them as a guide. But I found theatre school in B.C. and Alberta to be very helpful. Being on stage was really useful.”
Being on stage also had an influence in calling Saskatchewan home. Higgins had a part in a play in Regina in 2002, liked the provice, and stayed. She and Taylor now enjoy the simple small town life, including tending to a large garden.
In staying true to the music she enjoyed when young, and sticking with it in her own performances, Higgins said, “I consider myself more of an artist than any kind of pop star. I appreciate what they do in the world, but I’ve stayed true to what’s important to me.”
Tickets for Little Miss Higgins are $25 in advance and are available at The Second Story Books on Main Street in Canmore.
Up next in the Live on 7th series is Canada’s Rising Stars with Susanne Ruberg-Gordon and special guests, Feb. 26 at St. Michael’s Church.
