Little Miss Higgins is the stage name of Jolene Yvonne Higgins, [1] a Canadian folk and acoustic blues singer-songwriter who has performed both as a solo artist and as the lead singer of Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg Five. [2]
Born in Brooks, Alberta, and raised both there and in Independence, Kansas, she settled in Nokomis, Saskatchewan after meeting and marrying guitarist Foy Taylor. [3] She modeled her performance style on that of American blues singer Memphis Minnie. [4]
She independently released an EP in 2002 before releasing her full-length debut album The Cobbler Shop Sessions in 2005. [5] She followed up in 2007 with the album Junction City, [4] which was a Juno Award nominee for Blues Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2008. [6]
After separating from Taylor and moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba, she teamed up with the Western swing band The F-Holes for the 2013 album Bison Ranch Recording Sessions, which was released as Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg Five. [7] The album was recorded in a converted barn on bassist Patrick Leclerc's family farm. [8] Bison Ranch Recording Sessions was a Juno Award nominee for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group at the Juno Awards of 2014. [9]
Her most recent album, My Home, My Heart, was released in 2017, [10] following which Higgins received a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for Solo Artist of the Year at the 14th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2018. [11]
In 2020 Higgins announced plans to cease recording music, arguing that the contemporary era of streaming music services have made recorded music no longer a viable source of income for most musicians, although she plans to continue performing live and touring. [12]