Iris DeMent

One of the most celebrated country-folk performers of her day, singer-songwriter Iris DeMent grew up singing gospel music; during her teenage years, however, she was first exposed to country, folk, and R&B, drawing influence from Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell.

Beginning with her 1992 debut, “Infamous Angel,” which was hailed as “an essential album of the 1990s” by Rolling Stone, DeMent released a series of stellar records that established her as “one of the finest singer-songwriters in America, ” according to The Guardian. The music earned her multiple Grammy nominations, as well as the respect of peers like John Prine, Steve Earle, and Emmylou Harris, who all invited her to collaborate. Merle Haggard dubbed her “the best singer I’ve ever heard” and asked her to join his touring band, and David Byrne and Natalie Merchant famously covered her “Let The Mystery Be” as a duet on MTV Unplugged.

Her own recording career was on hiatus in the late ’90s and early 2000s, but she returned in 2005 with Lifeline, a collection of gospel hymns. DeMent returned in 2012 with her album, “Sing The Delta,” which prompted NPR to call her “one of the great voices in contemporary popular music.” In 2015 DeMent released “The Trackless Woods,” a collection of poems by 20th century Russian poet Anna Akhmatova adapted to music.