Dallas Higgins is Releasing New Music All Month Long
The musician's new album, Late in the Night, will be released August 25, but several songs are already available as a sneak peek.
Dallas Higgins is a local alternative musician who is releasing his latest album, Late in the Night, on Aug. 25. He has already given listeners a sneak peek of what’s to come with several songs from the album that are currently available, including “Flower Up Girl” and “Little Fire.” Stay tuned to his Instagram, @dallashigginssongs, for the full release, which will be available free of charge on Spotify. You can also catch Higgins bartending at Courtland Club on Sundays, plus other nights at 345 and the Walnut Room.
Here’s a q-and-a with the local musician:
How did you first get into music?
Before I started playing instruments, I had musical ideas and I could pick up drum beats. I could hear melodies at a really young age. My mom played violin. I always loved her violin and my parents noticed my interest in music and bought me a guitar. I didn’t start playing guitar until I was fifteen. I grew up in Attleboro and took guitar and voice lessons.
Were you a solo musician or did you get into bands?
Yea I was in bands for awhile. I was in a band that was in the Providence scene for a bit. It was a louder rock type band. We toured a bit, then that ended and I kept writing songs. I’ve always been a songwriter. I got into folk music and I toured the country with my own stripped-down stuff about five years ago. I toured the country in my car, and I self-booked the tour at venues along the route.
You toured in your car? What was that like?
I stayed in a hotel some nights, but this was a forty-five day run and I did a whole loop of the entire country. I had the whole thing booked months in advance. It was emotionally overwhelming. I saw different parts of the country so fast. The landscape changed quickly and dramatically. I met so many people. It was humbling too. There were nights I was sleeping in my car and I had to park my car in a not-so-safe area. There were a lot of people who would come out just to see music, even if they didn’t know who I was.
What made you want to start up again and release a new album?
After I got back from the tour, I lived in Vermont. I’ve been in Providence for three years now. I was in Vermont for two years. In Montpelier, I played local venues. I was writing music for my next album in a 100-year-old sort of abandoned schoolhouse that they would rent out to musicians. I would be there in the middle of the night. It was definitely haunted. There are times when my music writing comes to me sporadically, but it’s mostly in the middle of the night when it comes together. We paid a small rent at the schoolhouse and we could show up anytime. I usually would go there at night and I’d be the only one there. I would hear shuffling from different floors and weird noises, but I kept focusing on what I was doing. The room I worked in was just a piano and my guitar.
Dallas Higgins. Photo by Kayla Chinn.
Is that why your album is called Late in the Night?
That’s a good point but the lyrics and songs go through a story of an exchange between two people, walking on a bridge. They are doing a late-night walk and there’s discussion happening. There’s turmoil between two people. The first verse is “late in the day” and you are waking up “late in the day,” and staying up “late in the night.” I’ve released one song, and I am releasing another on Aug. 11. On Aug. 25th, everything will be up and ready.
Are you on guitar or piano?
I am on piano and guitar. But there isn’t a ton of guitar which is new for me. A lot of this was written with my producer and I. There’s a lot of synth and other arrangements. I’ve always been in a guitar band.
When did you create the music?
The songs I am releasing now, I’ve been sitting on those since pre-pandemic. Right when the pandemic was about to start, there was one producer that I really trust in Detroit. I was going to go out there and live for a month. That didn’t end up happening. I had 150 ideas I’ve been sitting on. I’ll send him a whole batch of what I’m working on and he’ll tell me what he thinks works and doesn’t. So then I went to Detroit about a year ago, last summer, and I recorded this new stuff. It was the first time in probably about five years. Those are the songs I’m releasing now.
What is the grand release date? Aug. 25. It’s going to be available on Spotify and I am going to book a Northeast small run, probably New York, Boston, here, Portland, maybe somewhere in New Hampshire. Maybe a five- to six-day CD release tour. That will be in the fall.
What inspired the lyrics for your new songs on the album?
Everything was more open and vulnerable than past releases. I talked more about things that were happening directly in my life. A lot of it was the loss of a relationship, but finding the positive parts of that. A lot of it has to do with loss. The songs are “Late in the Night,” “Flower Up Girl,” “Little Fire” and “Nonfiction.”
What is your hope and goal with releasing the album?
I want to give people something that they can relate to. If people feel like there’s a situation they are going through, and they feel like no one else feels that way, hopefully my songs can make them realize someone else feels the same way. Obviously I want to play a bunch of shows and release more music.
