SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LITTLE MISS HIGGINS – MY HOME, MY HEART

Little Miss Higgins
My Home, My Heart
Independent

Little Miss Higgins, a.k.a. Jolene Higgins, originally out of Brooks, Alberta and now living in rural Manitoba with her partner and son, writes, plays and sings in a beautifully authentic voice, a very fine and individual mix of blues and country flavoured numbers. Wailing like Patsy Cline on the affectionate title track or getting low-down and bluesy on ‘Swept Away’, driven along by a guitar riff a little reminiscent of Dale Hawkins’ rock and roll classic “Suzie-Q”. Then there is the early sixties feel of the wistful ballad “Top Of the Mountain”, mostly just little Miss Higgins and a strummed electric guitar. Motherhood is the lyrical theme of several of the songs on this set, and not just the obvious items such as “Belly Full Of Baby” and “Little Joe Lullabye” – the aforementioned ‘Swept Away’ expresses a concern for the environment and future generations. Offsetting these are numbers like the popular in the forties “Cow Cow Boogie”, kind of Ella Mae Morse – or Ella Fitzgerald – tackling western swing, and “ABC Blues”, a romping old styled knockabout piano-led blues. Then try the jazzy, not so subtle double-entendre, wink and nudge of “Full Contact Sport”, or the romping, Mississippi Delta tinged but moving into country and jazz closer, “Radville (Revisited)” – a kind of roots-rock Pink Floyd. The album is moving and thoughtful at times, in other places fun and retro – but always worth hearing. Chalk up another winner for Little Miss Higgins.

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