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From the Great Northern Plains, Little Miss Higgins struts and serenades her way onto any stage playing music brewed up in early country blues, jazz and folk. For over 20 years, she has performed, toured, collaborated, recorded and released 7 independent albums. Her music and artwork have received many accolades, awards and nominations including Western Canadian Music Awards, JUNOs and Maple Blues Awards.
Little Miss Higgins (aka Jolene Higgins) was born in Brooks, Alberta, and raised in Independence, Kansas. Music entered her life early. “When I was about four my dad brought home an old mini-grand piano and told me it was mine. I carved my name in the side of it and, it was inevitable, I had to start taking piano lessons.” Higgins now uses guitar and voice as her main instruments as well as her theatre background to bring a refreshing sound and story to the stage.
Her most recent projects are exactly a culmination of these two worlds–music and theatre. Released in 2021, The Fire Waltz is a 5-part music driven radio play podcast. And, the latest endeavor, One For Sorrow, Two For Joy, is a theatre piece using music and puppetry to tell the fictional story of a woman who lives alone on the prairies in the early 1900’s. Higgins not only co-wrote the story and composed music for the show, but has also taken on a role as a puppeteer for live performances. She incorporates songs from both projects into her music show.
Higgins settled in Saskatchewan from 2002-2013 and that’s when music took the driver’s seat. Over that time she built her career touring across Canada performing in clubs, theatres and festivals, sharing the stage with various artists like Big Dave McLean, Corb Lund, the Deep Dark Woods, Carolyn Mark, Kris Demeanor and the Good Lovelies to name a few.
In 2011, Higgins opened for kd lang’s British tour and has appeared live on many CBC radio shows such as Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Café, Michael Enright’s Sunday Edition and Rich Terfry’s Drive. Her talents have also been put to use in the creation of a dust-bowl folk opera in collaboration with Peter Balkwill of The Old Trout Puppet Workshop (Calgary, Alberta). Sharing her abilities with others, young and old, is another passion; she has taught songwriting at many schools and workshops including the Hornby Island Blues Workshop and Play & Record at the West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg MB.
Higgins has since made the province of Manitoba her home with her partner and son. Though motherhood takes up most of her time these days, she continues to perform, write, paint, and cultivate her creative spirit.