IRIS DeMENT
Can Move Mountains!
SEPTEMBER 15, 2019
BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER, ST. MARY'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, MEMPHIS, TN
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Iris DeMent stayed to chat and sign albums until the last person
had a chance to visit. Proceeds from sales were donated to
MIFA. Iris backs up what she sings about!
We've never seen a performer do that. Ever!
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IRIS DeMENT can move mountains, and she will surely move you! Her voice and her song selection hit you hard--right between the eyes. She penetrates your very soul and you can't take your eyes or ears away for a second. We have put off blogging about Iris DeMent for a couple of weeks, because we just didn't know what to say or how to say it.
One thing is for sure and certain: There is nobody like Iris DeMent! Her gentle touch on the piano and on the strings of her guitar stands out in contrast to the plaintive cry in her voice. And she is not afraid to sing about what many others would not dare to tackle. Her music carries the message that we're all out there striving for something better. Salvation? Maybe. Freedom and justice? Forgiveness for self and others? Count on it.
Iris DeMent started life as one of 14 kids (the last one!) in nearby Paragould, AR. The family moved to Southern California, where she lived most of her earlier years. The wide separation of lifestyles between rural Arkansas and Southern California, cotton sacks and dirt roads of the Delta, mingle with the complicated life of the West Coast. It's all there inside this creature called Iris DeMent. Today, she lives in Iowa with her musician husband Greg Brown and their daughter whom they adopted in Russia.
Russia brings us to Iris' sixth album, The Trackless Woods, which was influenced by the book of Russian poetry by Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966). Iris knew quickly what would come next. She would try to set Akhmatova's poems to music. The poet knew the hardships of the Bolshevik Revolution, two world wars, and Stalin. Anna lived it and somehow made it through with her poetry. Time passed and 16 tracks later, which were recorded 'live in Iris' living room under the guidance of producer Richard Bennett and a few musicians, Anna's poems with Iris' magic touch are The Trackless Woods. Babette Deutsch and Lyn Coffin served as translators for the project.
We encourage you to purchase the album. Its haunting beauty will hang around in your mind forever. The Anna Akhmatova songs: To My Poems, Broad Gold, And This You Call Work, From The Oriental Notebook, Prayer, Not With Deserters, All Is Sold, Reject The Burden, From An Airplane, Oh How Good, Like A White Stone, Song About Songs, Listening To Singing, Lot's Wife, Upon The Hard Crest, The Souls of All My Dears, The Last Toast, Not With A Lover's Lyre, and Anna Akhmatova's Recitation of "The Muse".
Iris DeMent’s music isn't just on her collection of CDs. Perhaps you have heard her voice in movies like "True Grit" and "Songcatcher," in which she actually had a role. The final scene of one of our favorite series, "Northern Exposure"? Yes, that's the Grammy-nominated Iris. "The Leftovers" and "The Handmaid's Tale," too? Iris again. She has garnered the respect of her musical peers, such as John Prine, Emmylou Harris, and Merle Haggard, who referred to Iris as "the best singer I've ever heard".
Her subject matter comes from everywhere: folk, country, gospel (she's a fan of Aretha Franklin, but who isn't?), bluegrass, Americana, and whatever she can use to reach out to her audiences. You are likely familiar with songs like "Our Town," "Let the Mystery Be," "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms," "Wash My Face in the Morning Dew," and her encore for the evening which brought the Buckman crowd to their feet, "When Morning Comes Around".
For More Information:
Iris DeMent www.irisdement.com and The Trackless Woods is on Flariella Records
Anna Akhmatova www.poetryfoundation.org
