Iris DeMent performs at the CSMA on Friday, August 20. Photo provided
IT’S BEEN MORE THAN 16 YEARS since Iris DeMent last performed in Ithaca. At the time, she was riding a wave of acclaim that accompanied her first album, 1992’s stellar “Infamous Angel.” With a voice that blended country and gospel influences and lyrics that were both heartfelt and hard hitting, DeMent soon became well known beyond the folk genre in which she was initially labeled.
DeMent soon released two more albums, 1994’s “My Life” and 1996’s “The Way I Should,” that earned similar acclaim. In 1999, she also contributed several songs on “In Spite of Ourselves,” an album of country duets with John Prine, with whom she has frequently toured.
DeMent’s last album, “Lifeline,” came out in 2004; except for one original, the songs came from her gospel roots. But she’s still writing new songs, and will release another album when she’s ready.
On Friday, August 20, DeMent will perform at 8 p.m. at the Community School of Music & Arts, 330 E. State St., Ithaca. Tickets for the show are $27.50. Visit www.dansmallspresents.com for more information.
Last week, DeMent talked with Ithaca Times from her home in Iowa that she shares with her husband, singer-songwriter Greg Brown.
Q: It’s been a lot of fun going back to listen to your old albums; I’ve been reminded how good they are. Even though you haven’t been too prolific in releasing new material lately, you must be proud of what you’ve done so far.
DeMent: I’ve done what I’ve felt able to do. It would be foolish of me to not take satisfaction in that. But I certainly would like to write some more good songs. And I have written some stuff. I’ve got a lot of other things going on, so I’m actually feeling pretty good these days in the writing department. My love and connection to singing has never wavered. I can’t complain.
Q: Often with singer-songwriters, there’s an emphasis on the second half of that label rather than the first.
DeMent: I love singing. Singing takes care of something inside of me that nothing else can. I’m very fortunate to be able have that place to go. It’s a good feeling to know that there’s some other people out there who gain from that, too.
Q: You’ve talked a lot about your gospel upbringing, and how it traditionally honored uninhibited singing. That’s a style that’s often hard to find these days.
DeMent: It does seem like that. I don’t know if it’s that I’m getting old and kind of narrow in my view of things or what, but I feel like there used to be a lot more of that. Like you say, I might feel that way because of the church environment that I was in. But I love being around singer who aren’t really trying to accomplish anything but to get something out. You got something going on in there, that needs to get stirred up and put out into the world.
That’s the kind of singing that has strengthened my life, and the kind I seek out. And I think when you sing like that, it doesn’t really matter what your range is, or how pretty you sound, it’s something deeper than that. Which is why someone like Johnny Cash and others who theoretically aren’t really singers could be so moving and inspiring to people. I love that.
Q: Your 1996 song “Wasteland of the Free still timely as ever, but I’ll bet you wish it wasn’t.
DeMent: Sure I do. I’d like to focus on people’s basic needs made possible to be met. As opposed to the direction we’ve gone, (which is) meeting what aren’t needs but are the massive desires of a small group of people. It’s sad. I do feel like Obama tried to move us in another direction, so I have some hope.
But more and more so, where my hope is going is in my own little world. I feel more and more that if each of us focuses on what we can do with ourselves and our families and our little communities of people that are around us, that the whole thing will get a lot better.
So maybe some people would say I’m bailing on things, but I’m really losing interest in the whole political world in big ways. And I don’t think it’s because I’m lazy, I think it’s because it’s all looking like such a pointless stupid waste of time. When I look at my children, my friend and my neighborhood, I think of what I can do there and it’s so obviously not a waste of time. So that’s where I’m going, and all that spills out. That’s where my interest is these days.
Q: How do you like living in Iowa?
DeMent: Well, Iowa is not a lot different from Missouri, where I lived for years before moving here. My husband has lived here for years and years, and he has three grown daughters who live here, and it just made sense for us to come here with our young daughter and make this our home base. I do like it here very much; I loved Kansas City, too. I might be easy to please! (laughs) But I have friends, and people I care about and people who care about me, and that makes the winters tolerable. I’m fine here.
Q: Has motherhood affected your approach to music?
DeMent: I don’t know about that. It certainly has affected my scheduling, but that I expected. I don’t think that it’s affected my songwriting. I feel that my approach to music and writing or singing was pretty well set in my childhood, and it really hasn’t changed much. There was something that happened to me when I was a kid in those churches that has defined what I do musically. And that’s not going to change. There’s something down in there that rang a chord with me.
I named my last album of gospel songs “Lifeline” but I mean literally for me, that base that I came out of is a lifeline for me, and still is. And my music won’t ever go away from that. Whatever’s at the heart of that got planted in me, so songwriting and singing… Life experiences come and go and certainly influence what you write about, but as far where I come from, that’s not going anywhere.
Q: A lot of people are looking forward to the show in Ithaca. It will be a treat to hear those songs again.
DeMent: Well, there will be a lot of new stuff, too. I’m looking forward to being there.
Visit www.irisdement.com to learn more about the singer.