By the time we saw that Iris Dement was playing at City Winery, the front of the room was sold already. But we got acceptable tickets about a third of the way back in that long, long room and were psyched.
Iris has recently released another staggering record, Workin' On a World, her second release since her last staggering record, Sing the Delta, which was released in 2012. Iris is so self-effacing, you have to think there must be a little humor in it. She says her husband (Greg Brown) is retired but still writes and sings songs around the house. She was doing the same thing and realized she might as well stop by the studio once in a while and record some stuff, since who knew when she was going to die (this is her sense of humor)?
She told us that she wrote the song, Workin' On a World, in November 2016 as a way of dealing with depression about the state of the world (she cited a quote I can't place, something like, "you must carve a path through the jungle of despair"). She said writing the song really helped her and she hoped it helped us. Well, that song sure does help, and there was a room full of people who would agree. And you should hear the rest of her album too, which gets very political and very personal. As I say, it's a staggering artistic achievement.
So anyway, we were eager to hear her sing songs from it, and they had City Winery's excellent grand piano out waiting for her when we arrived after meeting our friend L for dinner at Tavern In the Square. They also had a couple of mikes set up, and Ana Egge came out right at 7:00 for the opening act.
City Winery has lots of drawbacks as a music venue, the main one being it's so crowded and busy with food and drink at small tables. But Ana was not phased by the noise and played a great set. She had a wonderful sounding steel-stringed guitar and has written some nice songs. Perhaps the highlight of her set though, was her cover of Dolly Parton's Wildflowers. And Ana wasn't afraid to reach for the high notes.
After a short break, Iris came on with her guitar with an accompanist, Elizabeth something, on bass (which sounded great, but looked like it might have had a little viola in its ancestry). I've seen perhaps more non-professionally paced concerts (Grateful Dead?) than I have professionally-paced ones (Asleep At the Wheel?), but Iris can sometimes take "pace" to another level. She dithers about whether she should stay on guitar or switch to the piano, or back again. And her monologues that start off directed to the audience often become conversations with herself that don't really have a point. But this is all great, and we know that after she settles down she'll start back into one of those excellent songs.
Can't remember the setlist exactly, but she started with a few early songs, then switched to her recent songs, introduced by Workin' On a World. She did Morning Glory, Let Me Be Your Jesus, Sing the Delta, Warriors Of Love, The Cherry Orchard, and several other tunes, showcasing her strong piano playing and her vocal range. Elizabeth was excellent on bass and took a few solos, though they perhaps had her mixed a little high.
Egge came back out for a few numbers with her ringing lead guitar, including a great version of Iris's Mama's Opry, in which Ana took the Mama lines. The funny thing is that Elizabeth is a bit short and Ana is very tall, so they had to make major adjustments to the mike stand when swapping, while trying to look cool.
Over too soon ... but they came back out for an encore. How about Iris on guitar singing Let the Mystery Be and then Our Town? Can't get much better than that. She didn't sing Down To Sing In Texas, which is what we were all waiting for. But perhaps we're a little too concerned in NE about songs and art pushing the boundaries. She was great and we all had a great time, and perhaps we had a better time in hearing her technical songs versus her heart-on-a-sleeve ones. Perhaps.
Got back to the car without a trip to the dispensary, and then an adventurous ride back up North on 93, skirting road work. So glad to see Iris!
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