Barbara Higbie, born in 1958 in Michigan, is an American musician known for her versatility as a pianist, composer, violinist, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Raised in Indiana, she spent several years in Ghana during her teenage years while her father established Technoserve. Higbie's musical journey began with a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to collect traditional music in West Africa and continued with collaborations such as the album Tideline (1982) with Darol Anger. She became the first female instrumentalist signed to Windham Hill Records, releasing notable solo albums like Signs of Life (1990), which was named one of the top ten albums of 1990 by The Washington Post, and I Surrender (1996). Higbie has collaborated with prominent artists, including Bonnie Raitt and Carlos Santana, and her work spans genres such as folk, jazz, pop, and fusion.
