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Iris DeMent (born 5 January 1961) is an
USA|American country music|country/Folk music|folk
singer and songwriter.  She was the fourteenth and
last child of Pat DeMent and the sixth child of
his second wife, Flora Mae.  She was born near the
town of Paragould, Arkansas but grew up in
California, where she was exposed to and
influenced by country and gospel music|gospel
music.

DeMent writes songs about everyday experiences in
simple language. Her first album, Infamous Angel,
was released in 1992 and explores themes like
religious scepticism, living in a small town,
"where nothing good ever lasts", and forgiving
human frailty. In her second album, My Life,
released in 1994, she continues the personal and
introspective approach.  Her third album, The Way
I Should, released in 1996, tackles fiercely
political topics like sexual abuse, religion,
government policy, and Vietnam.

She has sung duets with John Prine, Steve Earle
and Emmylou Harris and is featured on the albums
of many other performers.  
She makes frequent appearances on Garrison
Keillor's Prairie Home Companion, and also
appeared in the movie Songcatcher, playing the
character Rose Gentry and singing on the
soundtrack as well.  

She gained many of her early fans when her song
"Our Town" was played in the closing moments of
the last episode for the popular CBS TV series
"Northern Exposure."

She married singer-songwriter Greg Brown on
November 21, 2002.

==Discography==
*Infamous Angel (1993)
*My Life (1994)
*The Way I Should (1996)
*Lifeline (2004)

==External links==
* http://www.irisdement.com/ Iris DeMent Homepage

==Further reading==
* In The Country of Country: A Journey to the
Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff,
Vintage Books, 1998, ISBN 0-375-70082-x