Skip to content

Little Miss brings big sound to Red Deer Lake

A vocal powerhouse is returning to one of her favourite provinces for some old-time country blues, jazz and folk music.
Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg Five will perform for the On the Edge Concert Series at the Red Deer Lake United Church Jan. 24 at 3 p.m.
Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg Five will perform for the On the Edge Concert Series at the Red Deer Lake United Church Jan. 24 at 3 p.m.

A vocal powerhouse is returning to one of her favourite provinces for some old-time country blues, jazz and folk music.

Award-winning singer/songwriter Jolene Higgins is performing for the On the Edge Concert Series at the Red Deer Lake United Church Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. with her band Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg Five.

“Alberta is a great province for supporting music and live performance,” she said. “It’s always been a great place to come and play so there’s lots of support both audience-wise and venue-wise. There’s a lot of places to play and a lot of people who come out and appreciate it. It’s a place that we always seem to gravitate to.”

Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg Five created a name for itself over the years with performances at music festivals and clubs across Canada.

The band nabbed numerous awards including Outstanding Blues Recording at the Western Canadian Music Awards and Favourite Blues Artist/Group of the Year at the eight annual Indies Awards.

It all began for Higgins at the age of four when her dad brought home a mini grand piano he bought at a local bar.

Years later, Higgins studied theatre and spent the next few years acting.

In the early 2000s while doing a theatre show in Regina, Higgins started to arrange music shows and it quickly took off.

“I was able to start booking shows and meeting people in the music scene across Canada,” she said. “It was just before the explosion of roots music and independent music across Canada. It was before a lot of venues in Alberta were starting to pop up.”

With her music background and acting experience, Higgins slid right into the music scene.

“My experience in theatre gave me a confidence on stage and just an understanding that there’s a relationship with the audience that’s really important when performing,” she said. “For many years I played as a duo, then a trio and picked people up here and there.”

A few years later Higgins teamed up with a quintet of musicians from Manitoba.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted once I started performing as a songwriter and guitar player was to have a full band,” she said. “It’s a band that fits – they understand where I’m coming from as a musician and artist.”

Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg Five have been traveling the country with their mixture of roots blues music.

“The writing and the stories are my own,” she said. “I sing about anything and everything.”

Higgins said getting everyone together for every performance can be a struggle.

“We can’t always get everybody organized with families and other commitments,” she said. “The Winnipeg Five have become the Winnipeg Four just for this concert (at the Red Deer Lake United Church). Sometimes we can’t always get everybody on board at the same time.”

Higgins will be joined by Alex Campbell on piano, trumpet and harmonica, Eric Lemoine on banjo and pedal steel, Sean Burns on bass and Evan Friesen on drums.

To purchase tickets call 403-256-3181 ext. 5 or go to rdlunitedchurch.org

On the Edge Concert Series

Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg FiveWhere: Red Deer Lake United ChurchWhen: Jan. 24, 3 p.m.Cost: $25 for adults, $10 for teensrdlunitedchurch.og
push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks