Iris Dement

Yesterday was a slow one here in Pigeon Forge. Dana did laundry, I had the truck serviced and we watched "High Noon," the old Gary Cooper-Grace Kelly film. They really don't make them like they used to. After that invigorating day, we headed into Knoxville for the Iris Dement concert. We ate at the Bistro, next door to the Bijou Theatre on Gay St. in the downtown area. The meal was great, the desserts better. Irsis had a fellow who is John Prine's lead guitarist, open with a set of his own. He was very entertaining and a terrific guitar player. Iris's music is usually found in the "Folk" gendre section at music stores and we have one of her cds. She's actually way more of a Mountain Music or country singer. She came out in a very unflattering polka dotta dress. About half her songs were played with backup from a bass guitarist and the aforementioned lead guitarist, and half were by herself playing piano or guitar. Most of her songs deal with life situations. Her voice goes right through me and I loved the show. Dana thought all her songs sound alike and the lyrics were very hard to understand. At any rate, it took about 40 minutes to get back to camp, and it was way past my bed time.