I love music threads, and this is a very good one.
Iris DeMent's voice is miraculous. Some of you may be turned off by the fact that her voice is as Southern as Southern gets, but DeMent is no redneck. Allmusic calls her "country-folk", which I guess is accurate. Allmusic bio -
http://wm09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?...iftxql5ldte~T1
Here is a more extensive biography from enotes -
http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-m...iris-biography
And an interview -
http://www.populist.com/4.97.dement.html
Live performance of "Our Town" with Emmylou Harris -
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5v7dXA-LWVk
Country voice singing a gospel song - Iris DeMent and Joan Osborne with "He Reached Down". I hope the country/gospel combo doesn't cause 2+2 to crash.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WSsYJd5PxZo
Many female performers are over-produced. It seems like music companies are willing to put out "real" male voices, but scared to do it with women. Iris DeMent is for real - no frills. If you like better known, no-[censored] female singers - Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples - listen to Iris DeMent.