I don't know when you arrived on the "alt. country" scene, but if it's been fairly recently, you may not know about one of the genre's greatest singer-songwriters... Iris Dement
If you've been paying attention, you may have seen her popping up here and there over the past couple of years...
touring and playing piano with Merle Haggard (who called her the "greatest singer I have ever heard," and who recorded her song "No Time to Cry"),
appearing with John Prine on his In Spite of Ourselves album and tour (I caught that show at the Old Town Folk School in Chicago--she was as charming as good and as charming as ever. If you missed it, that performance is captured on Prine's Live from Sessions at West 54th performance which is now available on DVD),
acting in a movie with Aidan Quinn (Songcatcher) where she played a backwoods Appalachian mountain singer,
singing a duet with Steve Earle on his bluegrass album Mountain (He wrote the song specifically for her after hearing her perform live).
and collaborating on Nanci Griffith's Other Voices, Other Rooms projects.
(In fact the one project she was missing from--glaringly missing from, come to think of it--was the O, Brother soundtrack and all that that involved. As great as that record was... she would've made it even better. )
Except for those instances, she's been pretty quiet over the last 8 years. Previously she had released three albums, Infamous Angel (1992), My Life (1994) and The Way I Should (1996). Then, nothing except the infrequent cameos listed above.
Now she's come out with a new album called Lifeline. It's a gospel album that's mostly made up of covers--oooold covers of old, familiar hymns--but there's a new one that Iris added, based on the story of the Good Samaritan.
Honestly, I haven't heard the album since not one of the bonehead major music store chains in my area has it, yet. (Though, I've got to say, I was impressed that Circuit City had a copy of "The Way I Should" and that they're now calling their country section "Country/Americana," but good Lord... what do they have against alphabetizing?)
Once I hear it, I'll update this post, but if you've heard it, please add a comment to this post and let me know what you think.
If you're just looking to start your Iris Dement collection, I'd recommend starting at the beginning with Infamous Angel and working your way through.
Then, once you're completely hooked, check out Iris' collaborations with the artists mentioned above. And don't overlook her unforgettable version of "Hobo Bill's Last Ride" on the Jimmie Rodgers tribute album that came out a few years ago.
Finally, after all that... join in on the collective sigh of relief that she's finally back.
