Retro stylist powers into town

If you presume that Jolene Higgins’ nickname Little Miss Higgins puts her on the petite side, you’re bang on. The blues-jazz singer is just under five feet three inches.

She may be pocket sized, but the Saskatchewan-based acoustic blues-jazz singer is a vocal powerhouse who sings in a style popularized seven decades ago by the likes of Bessie Smith, Ida Cox and Memphis Minnie.

“I love the colour and texture of that period and I use a lot of that as a canvas for writing contemporary music. I feel there’s still a lot of room for discovery,” says Higgins.

Long on talent, Higgins is a bit of Renaissance woman, equally talented as a vocal performer and visual artist. Her retro blues-jazz star rose after she captured two well-deserved awards at the 2011 Western Canadian Music Awards – Outstanding Blues Record for Across the Plain and Best Album Design. The awards were doled out in Whitehorse on Sunday, Oct. 23.

“I’m just trying to shift gears,” says Higgins, who makes her debut performance at St. Albert’s Arden Theatre on Thursday, Nov. 10.

When the Gazette caught up with Higgins, she was carving African soapstone in her backyard in the town of Nokomis, Sask., population 430.

She and her partner, Foy Taylor, have been playing to sold-out crowds throughout the summer and now it’s time to hunker down.

“Winter is a great time. Once the snow falls, it’s a great time for the creative process to kick in and write new songs,” she said.

Born in Alberta, she moved to Independence, Kansas as a youngster after her oilman father was transferred. A savvy dealmaker, he brought home a mini-grand piano from a local saloon and Higgins launched into classical training.

“There wasn’t a lot of roots and jazz in Kansas. It was mainly mainstream pop. But my musical tastes developed watching old movies and the Muppet Show. They had fantastic music. And when I moved back to Alberta I discovered CKUA. When I heard Billie Holiday, I felt I could sing that way. It was different from what I heard on the radio. It was an old style that suited my voice.”

After high school, Higgins spent two years at Red Deer College theatre performance program and a third year studying music and drama at the B.C. Conservatory of Music on Vancouver Island.

In between the post-secondary training she visited a friend in Yellowknife and stayed for a year performing at various open stages.

“It was a great place and that’s when music took the front seat,” she says.

With four full-length albums under her belt, including Across the Plains (2010), Higgins is hitting her stride.

Across the Plain, a retro-blues-roots album with a Dixieland vibe, was recorded in Winnipeg at Bedside Studios with Jaxon Haldane as co-producer.

Packed with a colourful groove from the past, it displays a sense of Canadiana through Beautiful Sun sung partly in French and Snowin’ Today: A Lament for Louis Riel.

And her quirky sense of fun shows through in Bargain! Shop Panties and Glad Your Whiskey Fits Inside My Purse.

Check out song samples at www.littlemisshiggins.com.