Whatever happened to Iris Dement?

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She hasn't released a new album in seven years, but she still does guest appearances. How come no new stuff?

― Jim M (jmcgaw), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:10 (10 years ago) Permalink

That's a really good question. That last album (her third, right?) was a little disappointing, too.

From what I could glean of her on the brief occasions I met her, I'm not sure she was ever one for courting fame or the spotlight, however

― Jerry (Jerry), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:39 (10 years ago) Permalink

Yes -- three albums, with the second (My Life) being my favorite. I know she's alive the kicking, but not touring either. I've always wanted to see her, because I've read that her voice is overpowering.

― Jim M (jmcgaw), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:51 (10 years ago) Permalink

She's on John Prine's new album, my sister just bought it for my dad for Christmas and kept telling me how much she knew he was going to like it, him being such a big fan of Common Sense and all the classic Prine from the 70's. Ms. Dement has a very cute voice. She has a duet with Prine on this new one called "In Spite of Ourselves" with lines like

She thinks all my jokes are corny
Convict movies make her horny
She likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs
Swears like a sailor when shaves her legs

He's got more balls than a big brass monkey
He's a whacked out weirdo and a lovebug junkie
Sly as a fox and crazy as a loon
Payday comes and he's howlin' at the moon

― Famous Athlete, Thursday, 23 January 2003 22:06 (10 years ago) Permalink

She just got married to Greg Brown late in 2002.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 23 January 2003 22:21 (10 years ago) Permalink

Gawd, I associate Iris DeMent with this disastrous crush on this one girl my junior year of high school. She was one of the few people I've met who had no capacity to laugh at herself. I was unaccountably uncontrollably attracted to her though. It ended in humiliation, but I wonder if she still has the copy of My Life I bought for her...?

― Amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 24 January 2003 03:28 (10 years ago) Permalink

I have the John Prine album and love it, but was hoping she'd do more of her own thing. Hope married life hasn't ruined her.

― Jim M (jmcgaw), Friday, 24 January 2003 13:16 (10 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

i had totally forgot about that girl!

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 04:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

She says she's had writers block so she's just been covering gospel songs she learned as a kid.

― Steve K (Steve K), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 04:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Does anyone love My Life as much as I do? Which would be a whole lot. i think it's perfect. PERFECT. i could never get into the third one as much. never even heard her first album!

i still have the same tape of my life that i bought when it came out. still sounds great!

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 20 January 2007 18:33 (6 years ago) Permalink

i love my life a whole lot. that and her john prine duets are my favorite things she's done. feeling like i understood "no time to cry" was one of the things that first made me feel like a grown-up.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Saturday, 20 January 2007 19:00 (6 years ago) Permalink

I'm going to see Iris at the Blue Note (in Columbia MO) in a few weeks.My Life is one of the best albums of the '90s. She's married to Greg Brown now. Her album of gospel songs from a couple years ago, Lifeline was totally overlooked.

― Roy Kasten (Roy Kasten), Saturday, 20 January 2007 19:06 (6 years ago) Permalink

She's hiding because she knows I want to kill her.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 20 January 2007 19:06 (6 years ago) Permalink

Her album of gospel songs from a couple years ago, Lifeline was totally overlooked.

yeah i meant to get that and then forgot about it. it's good? (i imagine it would be.)

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Saturday, 20 January 2007 19:09 (6 years ago) Permalink

I thought you wanted to kill Lucinda? xpost

You'll love Lifeline. It's kinda hard to find. I haven't heard anything about a follow-up.

― Roy Kasten (Roy Kasten), Saturday, 20 January 2007 19:16 (6 years ago) Permalink

hey cool lifeline's on emusic. i just downloaded it and am listening now. sweet!

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Saturday, 20 January 2007 19:48 (6 years ago) Permalink

I just want both of them to ponder my dislike for a few years, in a remote mountain fastness.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 20 January 2007 20:39 (6 years ago) Permalink

Wow, that's awesome about being on eMusic. I never would have guessed. We need to revive the eMusic excellent-find thread or whatever it was called!

― Roy Kasten (Roy Kasten), Saturday, 20 January 2007 20:44 (6 years ago) Permalink

She's supposedly working on a new cd now. I'm gonna see her tomorrow at the Birchmere, in Virginia near D.C.

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Saturday, 20 January 2007 20:46 (6 years ago) Permalink

Beth, I don't even know who you are anymore!

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 20 January 2007 20:48 (6 years ago) Permalink

What—there was actually a time when you thought I liked Iris Dement?

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 20 January 2007 21:00 (6 years ago) Permalink

Scott, I think we need to renew our vows.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 20 January 2007 21:00 (6 years ago) Permalink

To the tune of "In Spite of Ourselves" by John Prine & Iris Dement that I see is on a cd called a Date with John Waters!

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Sunday, 21 January 2007 05:29 (6 years ago) Permalink

9 months pass...

I'm finally going to see her Nov. 9. Anyone catch her tour?
I read earlier this year that she was working on a new album — where is it?

― Jazzbo, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 15:15 (5 years ago) Permalink

Good news. Is she writing again?

― JN$OT, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 15:17 (5 years ago) Permalink

No idea. She's a mystery, but I'll let it be.

OK that was really bad.

― Jazzbo, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 15:35 (5 years ago) Permalink

Sometime in high school, her name came to me and I had no idea why it was there. "Iris Dement, Iris Dement," I kept repeating to myself. Later I discovered she was a singer-songwriter, but I couldn't remember the moment when I must've encountered her name.

― jaymc, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 15:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

So her show this Friday in Fall River, Mass. has been postponed to Dec. 1. Big surprise. She probably got upset about something Bush said on TV.
I'm not holding my breath over the re-scheduled show. Will I EVER see this woman sing?

― Jazzbo, Thursday, 8 November 2007 19:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

wow, YouTube has some fantastic live clips of Iris:

Our Town
Sweet Is The Melody

For Sunday morning:
He Reached Down

With John Prine:
In Spite Of Ourselves

― that's not my post, Sunday, 16 December 2007 17:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

yes i've watched that sweet is the melody a bunch. love it. she's such a dear.

― Surmounter, Sunday, 16 December 2007 17:15 (5 years ago) Permalink

Iris DeMent

― gershy, Sunday, 16 December 2007 17:56 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

go on now, say goodbye to my town, to my town
i can see now the sun's gone down on my town, on my town

― Surmounter, Wednesday, 4 March 2009 14:52 (4 years ago) Permalink

Any word of new stuff?

― banjoboy, Thursday, 5 March 2009 02:37 (4 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

i dunno

how is Lifeline?

― Surmounter, Wednesday, 3 June 2009 20:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

she's playing in August

― Reggiano Jackson (gabbneb), Wednesday, 3 June 2009 20:44 (4 years ago) Permalink

WHERE

― Surmounter, Wednesday, 3 June 2009 20:45 (4 years ago) Permalink

i read awhile back that she gave up performing in protest of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. she did play the hardly strictly bluegrass festival in san francisco this past year...
also, i agree with x'gau re: the way i should being an "A"

― outdoor_miner, Wednesday, 3 June 2009 20:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

highline, i think

― Reggiano Jackson (gabbneb), Wednesday, 3 June 2009 20:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

ohh, i see she's playing at the highline -- thanks!!

― Surmounter, Wednesday, 3 June 2009 20:48 (4 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

i got tickets!

― I love rainbow cookies (surm), Sunday, 19 July 2009 22:42 (3 years ago) Permalink

well, my aunt did, because i'm poor

― I love rainbow cookies (surm), Sunday, 19 July 2009 22:45 (3 years ago) Permalink

i just saw that she is playing near me. i won't be going. sadly.

― scott seward, Sunday, 19 July 2009 22:52 (3 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

Last week in Montreal, however, DeMent played a good six or seven songs that seemed to be of recent vintage, igniting hope in a faithful fan’s heart that we’d hear a record of new tunes from her sometime in the 21st century. One was a touching anniversary song, “I Think This Love’s Gonna Last,” for her husband, folksinger Greg Brown...- Carl Wilson from an October 13 posting on his blog zoilus.com

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 1 November 2009 03:40 (3 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

new album of originals out in 2 weeks!

http://www.billboard.com/news/iris-dement-to-sing-the-delta-first-new-1007446952.story

― Aglet, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 21:46 (9 months ago) Permalink

Excellent. That's a holiday gift for my dad already spoken for, then.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 21:47 (9 months ago) Permalink

16 years since she last released an album with self-penned cuts.

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 20 September 2012 14:17 (8 months ago) Permalink

Free sampler of new tracks on NoiseTrade, which doesn't up my spam level noticeably. Haven't listened to this particular sampler yet, but I will tonight.

― dow, Thursday, 20 September 2012 14:55 (8 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

haven't spent a lot of time with the whole album yet but "The Kingdom Has Already Come" is really nice.

― boxall, Tuesday, 13 November 2012 05:53 (7 months ago) Permalink

Lotta love for this fine alb over on Rolling Country.

― dow, Tuesday, 13 November 2012 15:02 (7 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Great album!

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Saturday, 15 December 2012 18:48 (6 months ago) Permalink

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