Turn off the TV and start digging around for information that’s not from a corporation trying to make money. – Iris Dement
Maybe I spent more time dwelling on emotions than some people, and maybe that’s why I ended up writing. – Iris Dement
My guitar is really tempermental. I don’t give up on it though, I’m close to my guitar! – Iris Dement
Writing, overall, has never been what I’d call fun. It’s fulfilling. It doesn’t come real easy for me. – Iris Dement
If something bothers me, it bothers me for a long time until I find a way to work it out. Music provided me with a means of working things out. – Iris Dement
Most of the music you hear on the radio today is developed for making money. It doesn’t feel true or honest. You can feel it in the music. – Iris Dement
I don’t know what other people are like, I haven’t been able to crawl inside anybody else. – Iris Dement
This is how it has been since time began: If you want to make something really worthwhile and true, then you have to suffer for it. – Iris Dement
Some guy refuses to fight and we call that the sin, but he’s standing up for what he believes in and that seems pretty damned American to me. – Iris Dement
I honestly don’t listen to a lot of music – I spend so much time working at my own music. – Iris Dement
For a long time I was interested in being a social worker. In a lot of ways I feel that that’s all my music is, trying to help people. – Iris Dement
I’ve always been aware of having feelings that were pretty intense at times. I imagine most people have had that, or they wouldn’t be human. – Iris Dement
I was mainly influenced by the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, and others like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash. – Iris Dement
I never set out to write songs about the world around me… it just kind of came about as a result of paying more attention to things. – Iris Dement
I don’t describe myself as a Christian or religious, but I like to think that how I live my life is honest. – Iris Dement
