Iris Dement
| Iris DeMent | |
|---|---|
Old Settler's Music Festival - Driftwood, Texas
|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Iris Luella DeMent |
| Born |
January 5, 1961 Paragould, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Genres | Country, folk, alternative country, gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | Rounder Records (Philo), Warner Bros., Flariella Records |
| Associated acts | Greg Brown, John Prine |
| Website | www |
Iris Luella DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style includes elements of the country and folk music genres.
DeMent was born near Paragould, Arkansas, the youngest child of Pat DeMent and his second wife, Flora Mae. As the baby of the family, she was Pat DeMent's 14th child, and Flora Mae's eighth. Iris's 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. DeMent was raised in a Pentecostal household. Her family moved from Arkansas to the Los Angeles area when she was three. While growing up, she was exposed to and influenced by country and gospel music. Singing at age five as one of "the little DeMent sisters", Iris had a bad experience when she forgot her words during her first performance, which caused her to avoid performing in public for some time.
DeMent was inspired to write her first song "Our Town" by a drive through a boarded-up Midwest town, at the age of 25. The song lyrics came to her "exactly as it is now", without need for re-writing, and she realized then that songwriting was her calling in life. "Our Town" was played during the closing scene for the final episode (July 26, 1995) of CBS's television series Northern Exposure. The song has been recorded by Kate Rusby and Jody Stecher.
Her first album, Infamous Angel, was released in 1992 on the Rounder-Philo label and explored such themes as religious skepticism, small-town life, and human frailty. "Let the Mystery Be" has been covered by a number of artists, including 10,000 Maniacs and Alice Stuart, and was used in the opening scenes of the film Little Buddha. In the fall of 2015 (season 2), the song became the musical theme for the opening credits of the HBO series The Leftovers, replacing the original "Main Title Theme" composed by Max Richter.
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