 Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Iris Dement is coming to Slago's play in their live as part of Slago Live this coming Sunday night to the Knocknry Arena and Iris Dement always very outspoken there's plenty of social issues that she gets stuck into and you know sometimes the political situation in the States but rolled back the clock to her debut album which has just celebrated its 30th anniversary and was recently named the greatest country or one of the greatest country albums of all time by Rolling Stone and Iris has a career that was in a way originally kick-started by the great John Prine with a very funny track that she had you added on in spite of and Iris joins us now online and on Zoom Iris John John Prine well hang on a second I kill off this other background okay there we are Iris just just mentioning John Prine there he's left a big gap hasn't they definitely hi John thanks for having me on the show um yes he has and yet there's that body of music you know there it is and it walks with us and you know encourages us helps us laugh so uh yeah it's a yes and no he he uh he left a treasure behind he did he did and uh his music is timeless I'd say so mm-hmm okay let's let's talk a little bit about your music because you're bringing it to us here in the northwest this weekend and as I mentioned there in the intro and on your current album in particular you're quite vocal about various social issues past and present and you reference Martin Luther King and the civil rights leader John Lewis and so on I suppose Iris there's there's plenty to get you know there's plenty of issues out there that can get under your skin and there's plenty to talk about including the situation the political situation in the states at the moment well there are a lot of people suffering that's what we have and we've had that for a very long time I mean I will specifically speak about where I'm from but uh we've had serious inequities for a very very long time that are bubbling up in ways that are not playing out well um but yes I feel compelled when I see people hurting I feel compelled to say something about it and in however way I can come at that to try to improve it I see that as my job as a caring human on planet earth yeah yeah and I suppose um in many ways you are in a unique position um to to make your point and have and have that heard and that you have a platform not every artist chooses to use it that way but but you feel that you have responsibility absolutely that that's kind of the tradition that I came out of you know I I grew up is it may sound odd in a way that I see the link here but I grew up in the Pentecostal church but one of the key things that I got was that I'm a part of a bigger thing and I have a responsibility to the the group you know I'm a link in the chain and what's my job is this link in the change so I never saw myself as an entertainer you know I I didn't approach what I'm doing from that angle that has its place uh but it's not where I I was called to stand so I don't but yeah you know although I ventured away from you know a lot of the dogma and so forth and I don't go to church anymore but that was one of the that was an important message that I received there that I'm very grateful for and I want to carry that out as best I can in my music 30 years on from your debut album um hard to hard to believe I suppose and I remember seeing your live here and I can remember the venue um many years ago so no no stranger to this part of the world but um over the um over the 30 years you uh and now in particular sort of the latter part of that you you space your albums out you you know you'll not be rushed by any record company and you just take a um um uh sort of some um a nice a nice length of time I suppose in between albums because there's there's living to be done along the way well you know I I guess you could say I don't um I don't have enough to say to fill you know a record every year I mean that's the bottom line I I if I do I haven't figured out how to say it in a way that justifies people forking over their money although people don't fork over their money for records anymore but um you know I I just wait until I've got a bunch of songs that I feel have to be heard I mean that's how I've always operated but I feel like I don't have a choice like I gotta get them out there and they they have a job to do and it's my job to deliver them to the front you know um and correct that that doesn't happen that often for me uh but when it does I I get on fire and out the door I go just why I'm here in Ireland so but is it is it true that in between albums that you're you're still rating and I'm singing around the house a lot I sing around the house a lot and I do I've got a old piano that was built in 1910 that year my dad was born a pretty old walnut finish thing that is home to me I just I sit there I I don't know I I don't I don't go um I'm not like a brilliant piano player but I've I've satisfied my soul and uh some of the neighbors have expressed appreciation the others have been polite enough to not say anything but yeah I sing around the house all the time good good yeah your latest album is called Working on a World and uh you'll be um I presume playing tracks uh from it um on on Sunday night and how how how has it been received uh I mean you know to the the casual listener it's it's uh it's great than this as I mentioned earlier it's you chatting about you know a lot of social issues and referencing um um some well-known people but how has it been received out and about on tour now with it very well and the record I have to say uh to my surprise a lot of people have commented on this but I I also have been surprised how uh uplifting it is it's actually despite of a lot of the subject matter it's got a hopeful spirit about it and that was my tent that was my hope at least I mean we don't all need to hear about the troubles over and over and over we need to have some seed of hope in there you know that inspires us to dig around and forget what we can do and I feel that that is in that record I know it's in that record and I feel it when I sing those songs so yeah it's yeah you've you've turned around Ireland a number of times over the years including here in the northwest how do you how do you find the audiences here are they are they different I I love the Irish audiences um just my experience has been they're very lively very present and very in relationship you know um and I I like that it's um so yes I'm looking forward to playing and I'll be playing tonight in Dublin this will be my first show in Ireland in a number of years good and uh are we are we as attentive as other audiences do we you know when you when you start a song and you you know you want a little bit of calm are we okay with that are we are we good and we went a little what did you say a little calm just to be attentive a little calm yeah you know uh you you know you guys have the range you're full fledged humans you have all the okay you know get a little raucous get a little calm yeah all right get a little you know you laugh in the right spots so but that's that's your shows because there's there's times when you can't hear a pin drop and things are very calm and rightly so but then there's other times when you're you're sort of you know rocking it out well I don't know about that I remember my daughter telling me she was a little mom you need more rocking songs so I don't know I guess um well it's a matter of opinion yeah yeah okay well and big pill can make their own minds up on sunday night you're playing at the rare arena we had to move to a larger venue to accommodate so there's still a few tickets available for that as part of slago live it's uh the atu in slago and we look forward to it iris thank you very much I look forward to it very much thanks for making time for me thanks