Boasting an impressively diverse line-up in its’ 8-day week celebration of Blues, Country, Soul, Rockabilly, Garage Rock, Anti-folk, Folk Punk and Swing, the ‘Southern Gothic’ celebration at Crane Lane has already been responsible for putting on Dan Sartain, Curtis Eller, Terry Reid, an all-country set from W&H favourites Stanley Super 800 and a rapturously-received set from Wilko Johnson.
One of the festival’s most ambitious pairings is an early evening show from the New Model Army’s Justin Sullivan and Dean White followed by a midnight soiree from Alberta-born Saskatchewan resident Jolene Higgins, aka LITTLE MISS HIGGINS.
Rolling up in Cork on the back of their first appearance at the Kilkenny Rhythm & Roots Festival, Miss Higgins and her trusty sidekick, guitarist Foy Taylor are promoting her third studio album, the critically-acclaimed ‘Across The Plains’, which recently received a categorical thumbs up from W&H. There again, I guess any album recorded in a studio converted from an Aboriginal United Church in Winnipeg is liable to prick our ears up.
‘Across the Plains’ is a rich, Americana-soaked release with the accepted Country-Folk leanings shaken up by trombones,clarinets, baritone ukuleles and euphoniums. Recorded direct to tape using vintage mics, a tangible 50s-style vibe permeates and if you were to think Holly Golightly with the horns scored by Bix Beiderbecke you wouldn’t be too far away.
Touring as a tight two-piece guitar and vocal set-up inevitably brings a more traditional Country-Blues feel to the Little Miss Higgins live experience but it’s an equally feisty and memorable affair for all that. Opening with her memorable tribute to her hometown (Brooks, Alberta: population 400),‘In the Middle of Nowhere’ gets the set underway in fine style, while a stompin’ version of the new album’s elemental classic ‘Tornado Song’ finds the two of them swapping rhythm and lead breaks with an intuition bordering on the supernatural.
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With her red lipstick, floral dress and sassy vocal delivery, Jolene is the natural focal point, though Foy Taylor’s steady presence and John Lee Hooker-style wood-block foot-stomping keeps it all together, ensuring that when they take it back to the country for the likes of ‘You Do Nothin’ to Me’ and ‘The Dirty Ol’ Tractor Song’ or cut loose on Big Bill Broonzy’s ‘Pig Meat Strut’ their love of the roots of the North American Folk tradition always shines through.
Little Miss Higgins brings a whole new slant to the Cosmic Canadian Roots scene. She’s a hard-working gal and does her eclectic Country-Blues thang with verve and style. Let’s hope she makes it back to these shores again real soon.
Little Miss Higgins online
Crane Lane Theatre online
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