Missy Higgins

Singer, songwriter

Missy Higgins is a singer-songwriter in the Sarah McLachlan/Aimee Mann mold. A fine pianist and guitar player, her poetic songs are filled with youthful angst and troubled romance, laced with a fluttering of hope. A sensation in her native Australia, where her singles, EPs, and albums have topped the charts, she developed a devoted following in the United States after touring with her first two albums.

Sang in Her Brother's Band

Born on August 19, 1983, in Melbourne, Australia, pixie-faced Missy Higgins was surrounded by music while growing up. Her father played classical music on the family piano—a talent that rubbed off on young Missy—while her brother performed regularly in a weekend jazz band called Smirkin. Yet her sense of self came from a different source. "I guess my role models have always been my sister and my mom because they're both such strong women who are so sure of themselves in their personality, their sexuality, and their womanhood," she told Ben Lee of Brant Publications. "They are both successful in their careers and very independent, and they really instilled that in me growing up."

At the age of 13, Higgins sang in her boarding school's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She recalled feeling completely in her element, and her talent impressed her older brother. Higgins recalled in Westworld.com, "He said to me, ‘I had no idea you could sing. Do you want to come and sing with my band on the weekends?’"

Won Australian Radio Contest

Higgins's brother bolstered the young singer's musical knowledge by exposing her to recordings by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, and Natalie Cole. On stage, the teenager began her professional career singing such jazz standards as Errol Garner's "Misty" and Julie London's "Cry Me a River" before club audiences in and around Melbourne. In the meantime, she began writing poetry and refining her own personal approach to singing, which took in influences from the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple and Gillian Welch. She began to experiment with songwriting, mostly toying with popular song ideas inspired by what she heard on the radio. One of her earliest songs was "All For Believing," a tune she wrote for a tenth grade class. "It was actually for a music class, a music project," she told Westworld.com. "The project that week was to write a composition. I set out to write a complete song, and it happened quite easily. I didn't realize I had such a knack for it, so I kept going. It became my favorite thing to do."

"All For Believing" became an important composition for her career. Two years later, Higgins's older sister submitted the song to a government-sponsored radio station song contest for unsigned artists, called Triple J Unearthed. The prize offered? The winner's song would be played on the radio. "I remember being at school and a woman phoned me to say that I had won, and I thought wow, that's really cool," she told CBBC Newsround. "At the time I didn't really realize … how big the competition was…. Looking back now, it did start my career off, as I got my record deal after that."

A Major Star in Australia

At the age of 17, the contest win made Higgins hot property, and "All For Believing" became a sure-fire hit, but she carefully sorted through the offers, making it clear that she did not want to be told how to dress or act, or what to create. After choosing the alternative friendly Eleven Music label, Higgins signed, with the proviso that she be allowed to take several months off to go backpacking around Europe with her best friend. "Europe was amazing," she told Music-Reviewer.com. "I remember thinking, ‘When I get back home I'm going to start writing my album.’ I almost couldn't wait, I was just too full of stories and inspiration and potential songs."

Once Higgins returned home, she wrote and recorded a self-titled EP that topped the Indie charts in 2003. The following year she released the EP Scar, and then her full length debut album The Sound of White. Besides yielding hit singles, the album sold over 650,000 units, making it the biggest selling Australian CD of 2005. Filled with semi-classical piano, cello, and angst-driven folk poetry, the album showed off the young singer-songwriter's emotional depths. A brave work for a first-time artist, it garnered Higgins several awards in Australia. Stateside, however, Christian Hoard and Jonathan Ringen of Rolling Stone found little to like, writing that "this pretty, well-meaning and utterly conventional singer-songwriter debut topped the charts in Higgins' native Australia, which makes you wonder what currently passes for fun Down Under."

Toured America

The Rolling Stone review did not deter Higgins from touring Europe and America, where she earned fresh fans for the songs that were established hits in Australia, including "Scar," which rose to number 36 on the Adult Top 40 charts. Touring constantly forced Higgins to write less at the piano and craft more melodies on her acoustic guitar. The result was the 2007 album On a Clear Night. Working with former Crowded House producer Mitchell Froom, she created a set filled with sweet jazz accents that played out more like American alternative folk than Aussie alternative pop. "Working with Mitchell was such an empowering experience," Higgins proclaimed on her official Web site. "He's made so many great singer-songwriter style records, yet his main priority was always to help me make the record I wanted to make."

A number one album in Australia, On a Clear Night sold well wherever Higgins toured in the United States. It eventually peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Heat-seekers chart, but overall it did not enjoy a strong chart presence. Andrew Leahey of the All Music Guide touched upon what may have been the problem. "Missy Higgins' hometown popularity doesn't fully translate overseas, where American audiences have yet to replace those vague Vanessa Carlton comparisons with a proper understanding of her folksy, feisty, and altogether fun music."

For the Record …

Born Missy Higgins, August 19, 1983, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia..

Alternative folk singer from Australia, won unsigned talent radio contest Triple J Unearthed for singing "All for Believing," 2001; released first EP on Eleven records, 2003; released first album, Sound of White, in Australia, 2004; the album was picked up Warner/ Reprise, 2005; toured the United States vigorously, 2005, 2006; released second album, On a Clear Night, 2007; has songs on soundtracks of American television programs One Tree Hill and Grey's Anatomy, and has appeared live on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, among others programs.

Awards: ARIA Award, for "Scar," 2004; five ARIA Awards, including Best Female Artist, Highest Selling Album, Best Breakthrough Album, Best Pop Release, and Album of the Year, all for The Sound of White, 2005; APRA Songwriter's Award, 2005.

Addresses: Record company—Eleven Music Official Web site: http://www.elevenmusic.com. Booking—Creative Artists Agency, 2000 Ave. of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067, phone: 424-288-2000, fax: 424-288-2900, Web site: http://www.caa.com. Web site—Official Missy Higgins Web site: http://www.missyhiggins.com; http://www.myspace.com/missyhiggins.

Lacking the promotional heat she enjoyed in her native country, Higgins allowed her song "Where I Stood" to be used in episodes of Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill. "I think there used to be—definitely in Australia—a stigma for having your songs on any TV show or attached to a product," she explained to Trish Bendix of After Ellen.com. "But I think now the industry has changed so much that it's just one way you can get exposed."

As of 2008, Higgins began spending as much time in Los Angeles as she does in Australia, despite her stardom Down Under. She told Arlan Hamilton of SuicideGirls.com that she doesn't feel as challenged back home: "The people who are coming to my shows [in America] and discovering the songs for the first time—it's refreshing. You almost can't help but to see your music through their eyes. That's a really nice thing to be able to do because your songs don't feel old anymore…. This is definitely keeping me on my toes."

Selected discography

Scar, (EP), EMI, 2004.

The Sound of White, Reprise, 2006.

On a Clear Night, EMI, 2007.

Where I Stood (EP), Warner Bros., 2007.

Sources

Online

"An Interview with Missy Higgins," Evolution.com,http://www.earvolution.com/2005/06/interview-with-missy-higgins.asp. (June 24, 2005).

"An Interview with Missy Higgins," Music-Reviewer.com,http://www.music-reviewer.com/interviews/february-2008/missy-higgins-%7C-exclusive-interview/, (February 2008).

"Interview with Missy Higgins," After Ellen,http://www.afterellen.com/people/2008/4/missyhiggins?page=0%2c2, (March 31, 2008).

"Meet Missy Higgins: Australia's Newset Pop Star," CBBC Newsround,http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4605800/4605873.st (June 4, 2005).

"Missy Higgins," All Music Guide,http://www.allmusic.com. (June 25, 2008).

"Missy Higgins," Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com, (June 24, 2008).

"Missy Higgins," JamBase,http://www.jambase.com/Artists/36952/Missy-Higgins/Bio, (June 23, 2008).

"Missy Higgins, a pure new voice rises out of the outback," Brant Publications/Gale Group,http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_,1285?is_7_35a1_n14870839/print?tag=artBody; col 1, (August 2005).

Missy Higgins Official Web site, Missy Higgins.com,http://www.missyhiggins.com, (June 25, 2008).

"Missy Higgins Scoops Australian ARIA Awards," Market Wire,http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_200510/a1_n15738685/print?tag=artBody; col1, (October 2005).

"Missy Higgins," SuicideGirls,http://www.suicidegirls.com/interviews/Missy+Higgins/print/, (June 23, 2008).

"Q&A with Missy Higgins," Westworld.com,http://www.blogs.westworld.com/backbeat/2008/05/qa_with_missy_higgins.php, (May 21, 2008).

"The Sound of White Review,"Rolling Stone.com,http://www.rollingstone.com, (June 30, 2005).

—Ken Burke