Iris DeMent

Iris DeMent
Old Settler's Music Festival - Driftwood, Texas
Background information
Birth name Iris Luella DeMent
Born (1961-01-05) January 5, 1961
Paragould, Arkansas, U.S.
Genres Country Folk, Americana, Gospel, Folk, Alt. Country
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active 1991–present
Labels Rounder Records (Philo), Warner Bros., Flariella Records
Associated acts Greg Brown, John Prine
Website www.irisdement.com

Iris Luella DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American two-time Grammy nominated singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style includes elements of folk, country and gospel.

Early life

DeMent was born near Paragould, Arkansas, the youngest child of Pat DeMent and his second wife, Flora Mae. As the baby of the family, she was Pat DeMent's 14th child, and Flora Mae's eighth. Iris's mother had harbored dreams of going to Nashville and starting a singing career. Although she put those plans on hold to get married, her singing voice was an inspiration and influence for her youngest daughter Iris.[1] DeMent was raised in a Pentecostal household. Her family moved from Arkansas to the Los Angeles area when she was three. While growing up, she was exposed to and influenced by country and gospel music.[2] Singing at age five as one of "the little DeMent sisters", Iris had a bad experience when she forgot her words during her first performance, which caused her to avoid performing in public for some time.[1]

Music and career

DeMent was inspired to write her first song "Our Town" by a drive through a boarded-up Midwest town, at the age of 25.[1] The song lyrics came to her "exactly as it is now", without need for re-writing, and she realized then that songwriting was her calling in life.[1] "Our Town" was played during the closing scene for the final episode (July 26, 1995) of CBS's television series Northern Exposure. The song has been recorded by Kate Brislin and Jody Stecher.

Her first album, Infamous Angel, was released in 1992 on the Rounder-Philo label and explored such themes as religious skepticism, small-town life, and human frailty. "Let the Mystery Be" has been covered by a number of artists, including 10,000 Maniacs and Alice Stuart, and was used in the opening scenes of the film Little Buddha. In the fall of 2015, a version of "Let the Mystery Be" from the Transatlantic Sessions became the musical theme for the opening credits of the HBO series The Leftovers, replacing the original "Main Title Theme" composed by Max Richter, and it would once again serve as the opening theme for the series finale.

In her second album, My Life, released in 1994, she continued the personal and introspective approach. The record is dedicated to her father, who died two years earlier. My Life was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category.[3]

DeMent's third album, The Way I Should, was released in 1996. Featuring the protest song "Wasteland of the Free", it is DeMent's most political work. It covers topics such as sexual abuse, religion, government policy, and Vietnam.[4]

DeMent sang the duet "Bell Bottomed Tear" as part of The Beautiful South's Much Later with Jools live special in 1997.

Old Settler's Music Festival - Driftwood, Texas (2007)

She sang four duets with John Prine on his 1999 album In Spite of Ourselves, including the title track.[5] She appeared in the 2000 film Songcatcher, playing the character Rose Gentry and singing on the soundtrack as well. Her duet with Ralph Stanley on "Ridin' That Midnight Train" was the opening track on his 2001 album, Clinch Mountain Sweethearts: Ralph Stanley & Friends.[6]

In 2004 she released Lifeline, an album of gospel songs. It included 12 covers and one original composition ("He Reached Down").[7] It was the first album she released on Flariella Records, a label she started herself and named after her mother.[8] A shortened version of her rendition of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" was later used in the closing credits of the Coen brothers' film True Grit. On October 2, 2012, DeMent released her first album of original songs in 16 years, Sing the Delta.[9]

DeMent has sung duets with Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris and is featured on the albums of many other performers. She sang the Merle Haggard song "Big City" on Tulare Dust: A Songwriters' Tribute to Merle Haggard. She has made frequent appearances on Garrison Keillor's radio show A Prairie Home Companion. DeMent contributed harmony vocals to "Pallbearer", a song from country artist Josh Turner's 2012 album Punching Bag.

In 2015, DeMent released The Trackless Woods an album based upon and inspired by the words of Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova on her own Flariella record label. She reunited with John Prine in 2016 for his second duets album For Better, or Worse and performed on two tracks. DeMent will receive the Americana Trailblazer Award at the 2017 Americana Music Honors & Awards.

Personal life

DeMent was married to Elmer McCall in 1991, but the marriage ended in divorce.

She married singer-songwriter Greg Brown on November 21, 2002. They live in rural southeast Iowa with their adopted, Russian-born daughter.[10][11]

Discography

Albums and chart positions

YearAlbumLabelChartPeak
1992Infamous AngelPhilo
1993My LifeWarner Bros.Billboard Heatseekers16
1996The Way I ShouldWarner Bros.Billboard Heatseekers22
2004LifelineFlariellaFolkDJ-L Folk Radio Airplay15
2012Sing the DeltaFlariellaBillboard 200124
2015The Trackless WoodsFlariella

Singles

YearTitleLabelSongs
1992Our TownWarner Bros.Our Town / God May Forgive You (But I Won't) / Heart's Highway
1994Sweet is the MelodyWarner Bros.Sweet is the Melody / French Boy (live) / Keep on the Sunny Side (live)
1996Wasteland of the FreeWarner Bros.Wasteland of the Free (edit) / The Way I Should / Letter To Mom / Wasteland of the Free (album version)

Other contributions

Primary/contributing artist

As composer

  • 1998: The Caravans - Glamorous Heart Motel Blues (Fury) - track 1: "Our Town"
  • 2000: Grace Griffith - Minstrel Song (Blix Street) - track 2: "My Life"
  • 2001: Joel RL Phelps and the Downer Trio - Inland Empires (12XU) - track 3: "Calling For You"; track 7, "My Life"
  • 2002: Aselin Debison - Sweet is the Melody (Odyssey Records) - track 1: "Sweet is the Melody"
  • 2002: John Wright - Dangerous Times (Big Sky) - track 1: "When My Mornin' Comes Around"
  • 2007: Doug Cox - Canadian Borderline (Malahat Mountain) - track 2: "Let The Mystery Be"
  • 2012: Megan Reilly - The Well (Carrot Top) - track 8: "After You're Gone"
  • 2017: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Best Troubador (Domino) - track 18: "No Time To Cry"

Also appears on

  • 1990: Emmylou Harris - Brand New Dance (Reprise) - "Wheels of Love"; "Brand New Dance" (harmony vocalv)
  • 1990: Jann Browne - Tell Me Why (WEA/Atlantic/Curb Records) - Lovebird (harmony vocal)
  • 1991: Jann Browne - It Only Hurts When I Laugh - unknown track(s)
  • 1993: Nanci Griffith - Other Voices, Other Rooms (Elektra) - "Ten Degrees and Getting Colder"; "Are You Tired of Me My Darling?" (harmony vocal)
  • 1994: Tom Paxton - Wearing the Time (Sugar Hill) - "Along the Verdigris" (backing vocal)
  • 1997: The Beautiful South - Liar's Bar CD single (A&M/GO! Discs Ltd) - "You’ve Done Nothing Wrong" (harmony vocal, "Later With Jools Holland", live)
  • 1997: Tom Russell - The Long Way Around (Hightone) - track 3: "Big Water"; track 17: "Box of Visions" (duets)
  • 1998: Randy Scruggs - Crown of Jewels (Reprise) - "Wildwood Flower" (duet with Emmylou Harris); "City of New Orleans" (backing vocal)
  • 1998: Jeff Black - Birmingham Road (BMG/Arista) - "Ghosts in the Graveyard" (backing vocal); a second unknown track
  • 1999: John Prine - In Spite of Ourselves (Oh Boy) - track 1: "(We're Not) The Jet Set"; track 9: "Let's Invite Them Over"; track 12: "We Could"; track 14: "In Spite of Ourselves" (duets)
  • 1999: Tom Russell - The Man from God Knows Where (Hightone) - "Wayfarin’ Stranger" (lead vocal); "Patrick Russell" (duet with Tom Russell); "Ambrose Larsen" (duet with Sondre Bratland); "Acres of Corn" (lead vocal); "The Old Rugged Cross" (duet with Kari Bremnes); "When Irish Girls Grow Up" (duet with Dolores Keane); "Throwin’ Horseshoes at the Moon" (duet with Tom Russell); "Wayfarin’ Stranger (revisited)" (lead vocal); "Love Abides" (duet with Tom Russell)
  • 1999: Steve Earle and The Del McCoury Band - The Mountain (E-Squared) - track 4: "I'm Still in Love with You" (duet with Steve Earle)
  • 2001: Delbert McClinton - Nothing Personal (New West Records) - "Birmingham Tonight" (harmony vocal)
  • 2001: Keith Sykes - Don't Count Us Out (Syren Records) - "It's Just You"; "Lavender Blue" (duets)
  • 2001: Ralph Stanley and Friends - Clinch Mountain Sweethearts (Rebel) - track 1: "Ridin' That Midnight Train"; track 11: "Trust Each Other" (duets)
  • 2002: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Volume III (Capitol) - track 1-05, "Mama's Opry" (lead vocal)
  • 2007: Teddy Thompson - Upfront & Down Low (Verve Forecast) - track 6: "My Heart Echoes"
  • 2010: John Prine - In Person & On Stage (Oh Boy) - track 3: "In Spite of Ourselves"; track 12: "Unwed Fathers" (duets, live)
  • 2012: Josh Turner - Punching Bag (MCA Nashville) - track 9: "Pallbearer" (background vocals)
  • 2016: The Pines - Above the Prairie (Red House) - unknown track
  • 2016: John Prine - For Better, or Worse (Oh Boy) - track 1: "Who's Gonna Take the Garbage Out"; track 13: "Mr. & Mrs. Used to Be"

Further reading

  • 1998: In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, ISBN 0-375-70082-X
  • 2001: Don't Get Above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class, Bill C. Malone, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-252-02678-0

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Gross, Terry. "For Iris DeMent, Music Is The Calling That Forces Her Into The Spotlight". NPR's Fresh Air. National Public Radio. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  2. ↑ Ziegler, Chris (August 9, 2012). "Iris DeMent: Ass-Kicking, Outlaw Country Singer Talks Growing Up in OC". OC Weekly.
  3. ↑ "The 37th Grammy Nominations". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. January 6, 1995. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Cantwell, David (Nov–Dec 1996). "Homespun of the Brave". No Depression. Archived from the original on 2013-06-05.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert (September 28, 1999). "Really Glad To Be Here". Village Voice.
  6. ↑ Lankford, Jr., Ronnie D. "Ralph Stanley, Clinch Mountain Sweethearts". AllMusic.
  7. ↑ Cantwell, David (Nov–Dec 2004). "All that living will allow". No Depression. Archived from the original on 2012-08-21.
  8. ↑ Hill, Jack W. (2017-03-03). "Iris DeMent (1961–)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
  9. ↑ Schneider, Marc (June 28, 2012). "Iris DeMent to 'Sing the Delta', First New Music in 16 Years". Billboard.com.
  10. ↑ Dougherty, Steve (September 27, 2012). "Church-Bred and Honky-Tonk Sanctified". The Wall Street Journal.
  11. ↑ Masters, Clay (December 27, 2014) For Pieta Brown, Music Is A Father-Daughter Dance NPR Music. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
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