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.

Writing, overall, has never been what I'd call fun. It's fulfilling. It doesn't come real easy for me.

Maybe I spent more time dwelling on emotions than some people, and maybe that's why I ended up writing.

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.

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.

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.

My guitar is really tempermental. I don't give up on it though, I'm close to my guitar!

I don't know what other people are like, I haven't been able to crawl inside anybody else.

I've always written about things that cause me to feel something.

I don't describe myself as a Christian or religious, but I like to think that how I live my life is honest.

I was mainly influenced by the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, and others like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash.

Turn off the TV and start digging around for information that's not from a corporation trying to make money.

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.

I honestly don't listen to a lot of music - I spend so much time working at my own music.

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.

Making the record was tons of fun, the most fun I've ever had.