Acclaimed Singer-Songwriter Iris DeMent to perform at the Clifton Center on February 7 | Arts & Culture

From Jennifer Montgomery and Ali Shaw, The Clifton Center

LOUISVILLE, KY - The Clifton Center, located at 2117 Payne Street, will host a concert by singer-songwriter and Grammy nominee Iris DeMent on Thursday, February 7 at 7:30pm. The show is part of the "MINI of Louisville LIVE at the Clifton Center" series and will be held in the Clifton Center's unique vintage Eifler Theatre. A cash bar will be available. Individual concert tickets are $25 in advance, $23 for seniors, $28 day of show, or $22.50 for Friends of the Clifton Center, and can be purchased at cliftoncenter.org or at Carmichael's Bookstore, 2720 Frankfort Avenue.
 
Sing The Delta, DeMent's latest album, which is being released sixteen years after the last collection of her songs was released, presents twelve self-penned compositions from an artist whose first three albums established her as one of the most beloved and respected writers and singers in American music. Sing The Delta has been critically acclaimed and included on various "top ten albums of the year" lists.
 
DeMent released Sing The Delta on her own label, Flariella Records. It was recorded at Richard McLaurin's House of David studio in Nashville with co-producers Richard Bennett and Bo Ramsey, with a supporting cast that included Bryan Owings on drums, Dave Jacques on bass, Al Perkins on pedal steel and Reese Wynans on B3 organ, as well as horn players Jim Hoke and Steve Herman on a couple of numbers.
 
Additional support for MINI of Louisville LIVE at the Clifton Center is provided by the Brown-Forman Corporation, DD Williamson Co., Cylicron, the Kentucky Arts Council, LEO Weekly, WFPK, Heine Brothers Coffee, The Brown Hotel, Wild and Woolly Video, and Joe Hayden Realtors.
 
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, provides operating support to the Clifton Center with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
 
For more information, please visit www.cliftoncenter.org or call (502) 896-8480.
 
ABOUT IRIS DEMENT
DeMent, the last of 14 children, born in Arkansas and raised in Southern California, grew up immersed in gospel music and traditional country. She was somewhat of a late bloomer as an artist, writing her first song at age of 25. Her first release, Infamous Angel, initially issued on Rounder in 1992 before being picked up by Warner Bros., immediately established her as a promising and talented artist. Its 1994 follow-up, My Life, earned a Grammy nomination in the Contemporary Folk category. Her 1996 album The Way I Should addressed political as well as personal themes and earned a Grammy nomination, as well.
 
Along the way, several of DeMent's songs became cultural touchstones. "Let The Mystery Be" found its way to MTV Unplugged as a duet by David Byrne and Natalie Merchant. "Our Town" was played over the farewell scene in the series finale of Northern Exposure. Merle Haggard, who said of DeMent, "She's the best singer I've ever heard," invited her to sit in as his piano player touring with his legendary band The Strangers. He subsequently covered two of her songs "No Time To Cry" and the gospel-tinged "The Shores of Jordan."
DeMent remained active as an artist. She sang four duets with John Prine on In Spite of Ourselves and had a minor role in the motion picture Songcatcher as well as contributing a song to its soundtrack. She continued playing live shows and in 2004, she recorded an album of gospel songs, Lifeline, which included her rendition of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." In 2010 the Coen Brothers chose that song for the closing credits when they remade the classic western "True Grit."
 
ABOUT THE CLIFTON CENTER
The Clifton Center, located at 2117 Payne Street, is an historic facility that serves as a gathering place for art, culture and ideas that enrich our community. Housed in a renovated former school building, the Center is home to the studios of artists Martin Rollins and Lucretia Beatty, the Ballet Arts and Yuric-Amari Dance studios, the Louisville Visual Art Association's LVAA @ the Clifton Center art education studio, a UofL off-campus classroom, and the administrative offices of the Colon Cancer Prevention Project.
 
In addition to Mini of Louisville Live at the Clifton Center events, the Clifton Center hosts hundreds of events each year in its role as a rental facility including weddings, conferences, business meetings, art shows and receptions. For more information, visit www.cliftoncenter.org or call (502) 896-8480. Find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TheCliftonCenter.