Biography

Kevin Higgins, award-winning songwriter based in Austin, Texas, today celebrates the national release of his contemporary folk/Americana-styled solo CD, Find Your Shine. The CD has been shipped by Little Train Records to over 250 international radio and press outlets and VIPs within the music industry. The CD is making quite an early impact, with enthusiastic comments coming in from all over the world. Comments such as “...the best songs John Prine and Bruce Springsteen never wrote...it's only January, but I swear this will be the 2010 album of the year” (Eddie White, Cosmic Cowboy Cafe radio show, Australia), “this is singer-songwriter stuff at a level that changes the whole damn playing field” (Dave Pilot, OutlawMagazine.com, USA), “I gave it a good listen and it's great!” (Roel Stabler, Country File, The Netherlands), “I love it...it's an excellent album” (Tom Fahey, AmericanaOK.com, Scotland), “such great songs...just love it” (Lee Williams, CEO CMR Nashville, Europe's #1, UK), and “Kevin Higgins' album is great!” (Jacques Spiry, Country Unlimited, France). As veteran music journalist Rob Patterson observes in the disc’s liner notes, “On this CD, Kevin Higgins ascends to the pantheon of eloquent and evocative American singer-songwriters with that rare gift for articulating the fullness of human experience within splendid and alluring melodies.” Find Your Shine is a kind of magical album, one that offers a musical, personal and metaphorical journey that also tours through Higgins’ own life and the realm of the imagination to transport the listener to those special places where music and lyrics touch the heart, mind and soul, ushering Higgins into same league as lauded and gifted Texas singer-songwriters like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle (all of whom Higgins has been likened to by critics and listeners while also forging his own creative signature). Raised in El Paso, Higgins bought his first guitar with money earned from running carnival rides and grooming horses. He slogged through years in cover bands, lived on the streets and worked in luxury hotels, ran drugs across the border and chauffeured dignitaries, battled his indulgences and managed nightclubs, was beaten down by the status quo and hammered nails in the hot Texas sun before finally taking the great leap of pursuing his own music. A club booker friend introduced Higgins to Austin producer Stephen Doster, whose many musical endeavors include being Nanci Griffith's musical director and collaborating with James Honeyman-Scott of The Pretenders. “When I first heard Kevin Higgins’ songs I was absolutely knocked out,” he recalls. He gathered with Higgins and wife/bandmate Barbara Malteze and a blue-ribbon roster of Austin players in East Austin Recording Studios, (J.J. Johnson on loan from John Mayer's band; along with Chip Dolan, John Gammill, Warren Hood), for an inspired set of analog sessions recorded in seven days resulting in Find Your Shine. Practically all the lead vocal tracks were captured in one take. “I believe this is an important record that needed to be made,” says Doster. And in doing so, Find Your Shine showcases a notable songwriting presence on the Texas and American roots music scene. A series of CD release shows and media-related events will be held throughout the coming year. More information can be found on Kevin Higgins' website: www.KevinJamesHiggins.com Find Your Shine is available on iTunes, CdBaby.com, MyTexasMusic.com