Iris DeMent’s inimitable voice was described by John Prine as “like you’ve heard, but not really,” and inspired Merle Haggard to call her “the best singer I’ve ever heard.”  Her unforgettable melodies rooted in hymns, gospel, and old country music have made her one of the finest singer-songwriters in America, but Iris also lends her voice as one of our country’s fiercest advocates for human rights.  

And she’s coming to Vashon on July 18^th.  The concert is sold out – but if you don’t have tickets, get yourself on the waitlist – you don’t want to miss this.

In her new record Workin‘ On A World, she faces the modern world—as it is right now—with its climate catastrophe, pandemic illness, and epidemic of violence and social injustice. Not only does she ask how we can keep working towards a better world, but she implores us to love each other, despite our very different ways of seeing. In this, her seventh album, she returns to a truth she’s known since childhood: music is medicine. “My mom always had a way of finding the song that would prove equal to whatever situation we were facing. Throughout my life, songs have been lending me a hand. Writing songs, singing songs, putting them on records, has been a way for me to extend that hand to others.”

In this interview:

We talk about how her songs and music have kept her going through dark times. 

How her music comes out of her desire to be of service and offer something of her authentic soul to the world.

How she learned to listen to the spirit in her early Pentecostal upbringing and continues to listen for that spirit even though she left the church in her teens.

How she “never played the game”—staying away from the highly commercial and promotional side of the music industry to focus on writing and sharing what is true for her.

How the creative spirit speaks to her.

https://irisdement.com/home