Iris DeMent

Iris DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style encompasses the genres Country and Folk music.

Early life

DeMent was the youngest child of Pat DeMent and his second wife, Flora Mae. (As the baby of the family, she was Pat DeMent's fourteenth child, and Flora Mae's eighth.)

She was born near the town of Paragould, Arkansas but grew up in Long Beach, California, where she was exposed to and influenced by country and gospel music.

Career

DeMent writes "storyteller" songs about everyday experiences in simple language.

Her first album, Infamous Angel, was released in 1992 and explored themes like religious skepticism, living in a small town, "where nothing good ever lasts", and forgiving human frailty. In her second album, My Life, released in 1994, she continues the personal and introspective approach. My Life was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Contemporary Folk Album" category. DeMent's third album, The Way I Should, was released in 1996. It is DeMent's most political work, and covers topics like sexual abuse, religion, government policy, and Vietnam. After a hiatus during the late 1990s and early 2000s, she released her fourth album, Lifeline, in 2004.

She gained some notice singing the Merle Haggard song "Big City" on Tulare Dust: Tribute to Merle Haggard, a 1994 various artists tribute album. In 1995, her song "Our Town" was played in the closing moments of the last episode for the popular CBS TV series Northern Exposure, gaining DeMent more fans. (The song has also been recorded by Kate Rusby and by Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin.)

DeMent has sung duets with John Prine (on In Spite of Ourselves), Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris and is featured on the albums of many other performers. She has made frequent appearances on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion, and appeared in the 2000 film Songcatcher, playing the character Rose Gentry and singing on the soundtrack as well. In 1994, Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs performed DeMent's song "Let the Mystery Be" with David Byrne for the MTV Unplugged. The song was included on Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings.

Personal life

DeMent married Elmer McCall in 1991, but the marriage subsequently ended in divorce. She married singer-songwriter Greg Brown on November 21 2002.

Charts

Year	Album	Chart	Peak
1994	My Life	Billboard Heatseekers	16
1996	The Way I Should	Billboard Heatseekers	22
Jan 2004	Lifeline	FolkDJ-L Folk Radio Airplay	15

Discography

Infamous Angel (January 16, 1992)
My Life (1994)
The Way I Should (1996)
Lifeline (2004)

External links