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Pard and Lisa met at one of
their performances in 1988 at the Bangor Auditorium in Bangor, Maine.
Lisa had
been in country music since the age of 8 and has had several bands
through the
years and worked with many local legends such as Danny Harper, Curly
O'Brien,
Jackie King, Doc Morrill, Dick Curless, Yodeling Slim Clark and lots of
other
wonderful Maine talent., Lisa has also worked with a few Nashville
recording
artists such as Margo Smith, Rex Allen Jr., Steve Wariner, Johnny
Russell, and
Johnny Rodriguez to name a few.
Pard had the opportunity
to
be on stage with Dick Curless, other artists and also played music with
his family
and friends. Pard met Lisa and they fell in love and since then have
been
playing and sharing some beautiful country music together. Together,
they moved
to Nashville, got married, and lived in and around the Nashville area
for
several years and performed at live radio shows, campgrounds, local
clubs and
private parties.
In the summer of 1992 while
living in Tennessee they listened to radio station Nashville 95 which
played old
country songs on Sunday mornings. Pard was enroute in his vehicle
to get
a coffee and then to work and heard Johnny Cash’s "One Piece At A
Time"
being played which gave him an idea.for a country song. He
hurried
to his shop and in a few minutes had written a song called, "The
Legend
And Me".
Shortly thereafter, Lisa got in
touch
with Johnny Cash and he wanted to hear it, so we sent him a copy.
As soon
as he received it he got back in touch with us saying he liked it and
wanted to
do something with it. But as fate would have it, the very next
day Johnny
Cash was hospitalized and his illness kept him there for several
weeks. He
also had weeks of recovery at home and I didn't want to bother
him.
After Mr. Cash passed away Pard
had to change a line in the song slightly from "the man and the legend
still lives on" to "the legend of the man still lives on",
and as the song says at the end, "and that’s why I had to write
this
all down in a song".
In 1993 they were blessed
with the birth of their daughter, Katie L. Higgins and she has been
singing
with them nearly ever since. She too, carries a deep love for music in
her
heart. Last year at the Acadia Music
Festival in Southwest Harbor The Danny Harper Band had the priviledge
of backing
up Johnny Tillotson and along with everyone else in the Band 14 year
old Katie
Higgins did an amazing job of backup vocals for Mr. Tillotson.
Lisa, Pard and Katie (The
Higgins Family) formerly of The
Danny Harper Show, benefits with Yodeling Wade Dow & Friends, The
Mainely
Country Band and The Maine Country Living Legends Show. They also do
some
benefits on their own as well.
The Higgins Family has a
great love for playing and performing good ol’ traditional country
music and
have recently released a CD with many of their favorite traditional
country
songs.
YODELIN'
WADE DOW
I am a
lifetime native of Brooklin,
ME. I started playing guitar and singing at about
the age of 5. I won a local talent
contest in 1953 sponsored by THE KENTUCKY TWINS (a group touring this
area).
The prize was that I could appear with them anytime. In 1954, I was on TV with them and Hal
Lone-Pine, Yodelin’ Slim Clark and others. In high school I went to rock & roll for a few years
and then I gave music up for 30 years while my
family was growing up.
I started playing music again in
1994 as a hobby and have been at it ever since. On
December 1, 2008 my wife, Helana and I,
received the “Humanitarian Award” from the Maine Academy Of Country
Music.
I currently work with my friends “The Frye
Mountain Band”. In April 2009, I am proud
to say that The Frye Mountain Band and I received the following awards
from the
Pine Tree State Country Music Association: Band of the Year; Duet
of the Year with Dick Philbrook; Male Vocalist of
the Year; and Entertainer of the Year. Along with the Frye
Mountain Band I have played with many fine musicians
especially The Higgins Family.
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