John Adamian on Gary Higgins

"Connecticut’s Gary Higgins … who’d recorded a spooky, mellow and vaguely psychedelic and folky record in 1973 called Red Hash and pressed a few thousand copies of it — was pretty much unknown until a musician made a mixed CD with a track from the record and passed it on to a friend. Word spread among like-minded musicians and fans. In 2005, the record was re-issued by über-hip Chicago label Drag City. The story was complicated … by the fact that the record was recorded with a jail sentence hanging over Higgins’ head. He’d been busted for marijuana possession. … At the time of the 2005 re-issue, Higgins was slightly incredulous about the interest in his old material. … Though he’d been playing and writing all along, it took him a while to get a manager and an agent and to throw himself back into performing. He had to relearn those old tunes. This month Higgins is faced with a new challenge. With his new record, Seconds — his first in over 35 years … he’ll be introducing music to fans who’ve appreciated a version of Gary Higgins that’s decades old (though he’s still playing with musicians who played on Red Hash" ("Second Coming," New Haven Advocate, 9/24/09, pp. 34-35).