When Fran Higgins performs for lunch audiences on St. Patrick’s Day, she hopes her listeners hear something they have never heard before – authentic Celtic (pronounced kel’ tik) folk music. If so, she will have accomplished her mission.
Higgins, staff secretary for Mary Haven, associate dean of UNMC’s School of Allied Health Professions, is quietly but resolutely dispelling the image of Irish folk music as predominately about pubs and hard drinking.
“In addition to beautiful love ballads, the soul of Irish and Scottish folk music is gutsy and rebellious,” Higgins said. “These traditional songs are very much in the same spirit as some of the great protest songs of America’s slave era and civil rights era. The Irish and Scots sang of oppression by British authority, of British cultural dominance that not only sought to destroy their Gaelic language, but, in Scotland, actually outlawed the use of bagpipes. There also are wonderful folk songs by Irish and Scots yearning for their native land after forced immigration to America and other parts of the world.
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“I want people to hear and feel more of traditional Irish music on St. Patrick’s Day than ‘Whiskey in a Jar’ and ‘What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor.’ ”
Discovering music
Higgins, 41, was raised in Nevada, where she lived in several small towns before living 14 years in Las Vegas. She took piano lessons from age 5 and taught herself to play the guitar in high school. After graduating, she entered the University of Nevada-Las Vegas on a vocal scholarship. She eventually dropped out of college and entered “the university of life,” traveling, playing and developing her musical writing skills.
After a first marriage that was short-lived, Higgins found the man of her dreams and a musical mentor in Greg Higgins. Today, they have three children, ages 19, 15 and 12, and a musical history that evolved from leading their own 13-piece Celtic band to smaller ensembles and finally, two years ago, to Higgins’ solo career.
Learning Celtic music
“My husband served 15 years in the U.S. Air Force and we traveled the world from 1983 to 1992,” Higgins said. “He received a medical discharge while stationed at Offutt Air Base and we never moved again.
“Greg always loved traditional Celtic music and learned to play the bagpipes in 1997. I learned to play the highland snare drum to accompany him, and he encouraged me to dust off my guitar and learn the traditional songs in both English and Gaelic. For years we called the band O’Higgin, the traditional Irish form of our family name. Over the years, even one of my daughters played in the band on the penny whistle and flute.
“More than anything, Greg led me to appreciate the cultural history and rebellion in the messages of so many Irish and Scottish folk songs. As many of our band members moved on to other things, Greg really encouraged me to finally go solo.”
Flying solo
Like most of her generation, Higgins was influenced by rock and roll in her early years, as well as such folk singers as Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez. On her first CD, titled “The Stuff of Dreams,” Higgins sings her own songs that blend a number of musical influences, in addition to some traditional Irish songs. Coffee house audiences are currently requesting classic American folk tunes, but Higgins’ career has mainly thrived because of a huge resurgence in people wanting to hear Celtic music.
“Many more people around the world today are interested in Celtic music because of the success of programs like “River Dance,’ ‘Lord of the Dance,’ and Grammy-winning recording artists like Sinead O’Connor and Enya,” Higgins said. “In fact, Sinead O’Connor just released an album of all traditional Irish songs, including some in Gaelic.
“It also helps me financially that, by singing traditional folk songs, I don’t have to pay copyright royalties because all of these songs are now in the public domain.”
Work, school, music
In addition, Higgins found a supportive work environment when she joined UNMC in March 1999. At one point, she volunteered to teach music to developmentally challenged children at the Madonna School and SAHP gave her time on Fridays to work with these children.
Today, Higgins is continuing her college education part-time at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, seeking a bachelor of fine arts degree in poetry. She created her own album cover with a combination of watercolor and collage art. Now that she’s solo, she has to haul her own sound equipment and keyboards, but says the response to her music remains a high motivation to keep going.
“I love poetry and I love putting words to music and building a song,” Higgins said. “I have never done this for fame or fortune. It’s almost still just a hobby. But it is a great feeling of accomplishment to not only create my own music, but to give audiences a real taste of Irish and Scottish culture and history in the form of this traditional folk music.”