>>PREVIEW
LITTLE MISS HIGGINS
Friday, June 15
The Ironwood
Little Miss Higgins is on the road a lot these days. That’s what happens when you have a new CD out. You travel. You take interviews over your cell phone while driving through the mountains on your way to Pincher Creek for a show (one of 23) and hope you get through it before the phone cuts out. The touring is straightforward compared to the recording process. That’s an interesting story. A close friend was just about to have a baby. Little Miss Higgins (LMH) and her partner Foy Taylor decided to go and visit her and maybe spend a few weeks in Calgary. They also decided that while in the city they would record their second CD. The baby arrived almost as soon as they got to town. There was plenty of time to work on the album. It got done and is called Junction City. Thus, the touring.
Of course things aren’t really so simple. LMH and Foy have been working on this for a long time – writing songs, choosing others, arranging all of them, recording demo tracks and sending them to producer Tim Williams. It’s a lengthy process – just like songwriting. That, too, is complicated. Yet, she seems to have it nailed. Her philosophy is well thought out. "I use whatever is around me," she says. "I’m now living in Nikomis, a small town in Saskatchewan, and some of the songs are really about living there. ‘In the Middle of Nowhere’ is one of those songs. It talks about the emptiness and vastness of the land. Getting stuck with the possibility that there may be no one around to help you out. These sorts of things take a lot of getting used to, but you do get used to it."
Thankfully, LMH did and she happily settled down. You can hear this in her songs. The driving rhythm of "That Train’s a Comin’ Down" and the joyous, earthy and sensual sound of "The Dirty Old Tractor Song" suggest contentment. They may also suggest other things. It’s tempting to attribute double entendres to some of the lyrics in her songs. Whether or not they are there is a matter of interpretation. If you look for something in lyrics, as LMH is quick to point out, you can often find it even if it isn’t there.
LMH is a fan of Memphis Minnie. In addition to being a powerful singer and strong, independent woman. Memphis Minnie was a master of the double entendre. She draws inspiration from the old country blues and jazz musicians – performers like W.C. Handy and Mississippi John Hurt – of the 1930s and 1940s. She admits that she loves some of the melodies and chord progressions from that era. However, she insists on updating them and making them her own. |
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