You can take the musician out of the Arkansas Ozarks, but you can’t take the Ozarks out of the musician, as proved Saturday night when Paragould-born Iris DeMent returned to Little Rock to inaugurate a new music venue worth raving about.
So DeMent did just that, noting that she’s played in a lot of places and not many of them measure up to South on Main, which the Oxford American literary magazine folks took great care in creating out of the former Juanita’s location at 13th and Main streets.
DeMent’s first Arkansas show had been at Juanita’s in the mid-1990s, and she seemed right at home when returning to the remodeled site.
Those lucky enough to get tickets to the smallish (less than 200) show no doubt could not believe their good fortune in confronting a stage that has been moved to the middle of the room, with excellent sound and lights also part of the space.
DeMent brought along a trio of fine backing musicians: acoustic bassist Dave Jacques, electric guitarist and occasional backing vocalist Jason Wilber, and Jon Graboff, who alternated between pedal steel guitar and mandolin. All three of them were exceptionally tasteful, especially Graboff, who created a stunning backdrop for DeMent, no matter which instrument he or she was playing. The lack of a percussionist merely underscored the intensity of the lyrics and the unique voice of the singer.
DeMent opened her show on acoustic guitar with “The Way I Should,” the title cut to her third album, and then charged into perhaps her bestknown song, “Let the Mystery Be,” from her debut album, Infamous Angel, noting that it’s the song many people request be sung at their funerals.
By her third song, DeMent had moved to a grand piano, and she switched several times between it and her guitar. She sang each of the dozen songs on her 2012 album, Sing the Delta, the highlights of which were “Makin’ My Way Back Home,” “Livin’ on the Inside,” “Mama Was Always Tellin’ Her Truth,” “Go On andGo Home” and “If That Ain’t Love,” explaining that some of the songs were inspired by the trip her family took to take her mama home for burial along the St. Francis River.
Her self-deprecating humor was almost as much a part of the show as her music and her high, lonesome voice, which is definitely a rarity and too country for country radio these days.
To add to the appeal, most people were quiet and respectful, plus there was no opening act and the show started only 15 minutes late, at 8:15 p.m., with 21 songs included, plus lots of quips and intriguing observations.
She also did “Easy’s Gettin’ Harder Every Day” from her second album, and her two-song encore began with “Our Town,” one of her most wrenchingly sad compositions, with the final song the uplifting “There’s a Whole Lot of Heaven” closing the twohour show.
South on Main has already announced the following future shows: Bobby Rush on Oct. 11, Pokey LaFarge on Oct. 12, Marcus Roberts on Nov. 9 and Rosanne Cash on Nov. 23.
Arkansas, Pages 13 on 08/27/2013