Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Bass Guitar, Harmonica, Washboard and Other Percussion

Ellie Mae Higgins was born in Boston and grew up listening to her dad singing silly songs in the car and around the house. She and her dad would enjoy singing and playing the piano together. This early musical experience, she feels, shaped her love of music and influenced her children’s music so many years later.
 
Ellie took up guitar at age 19 and never stopped. She taught herself finger-picking guitar using tablature and by listening to her ever-growing collection of early blues albums. She also studied with the great Cambridge blues guitarist, Paul Rishell. Her primary love was the blues of the '20s, '30s, and'40s. Strong influences on her style were Memphis Minnie and Blind Boy Fuller.
 
After graduating from Mass. College of Art with a BFA, Ellie decided to focus in on music.  She began playing in coffeehouses around the Boston area in a duo with well-known singer/songwriter Les Sampou, performing blues, folk, R&B.
In 1995, still even more heavily into blues, and looking for her musical "soul-mate", she met slide guitar player (and now husband), Bill Reidy, at a blues jam. They formed two bands, one called "Red Hot Ellie and the Jukestompers," an acoustic blues trio,  and "Highway 61," and electric blues/R&B band with Ellie on electric bass guitar and vocals.