Being sheltered in place due to COVID 19 has presented a unique and unusual challenge to continue to conduct conversations with artists and industry insiders. One of the benefits of being isolated is taking time to do some housekeeping of computer audio and video files. I literally stumbled across what you will hear next…my very first on air radio interview in 2011… and it was a precious one… with Grammy nominated songwriter Iris Dement. Iris and her husband Greg Brown were coming to Kansas City to headline a fundraising concert in support of a local nonprofit’s child services program.
Iris, born in Paragould, Arkansas is the youngest of 14 children raised in the Dement’s Pentecostal household. As you will hear in this conversation, Iris' 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. Iris spent nearly 20 years in Kansas City…played her first open mic here as she slowly but surely navigated her way into the musical family that has become known as Americana.
Perhaps best known for her song “Our Town” and her duets with the legendary John Prine, Iris’ body of work deserves close and focused attention. It runs the gamut with songs of love, redemption, religious skepticism, introspection, small town life, and protest with topics as diverse as sexual abuse, religion, government policy and warmongering.
Iris could not have been more gracious and kind in this interview conducted very very early on a Tuesday morning. I have been and always will be a fan. Enjoy this short…but lovely conversation with Iris DeMent!
