I had a lengthy phone interview Monday with country/folk singer Iris DeMent, a performer who ranks quite high on my list of personal favorites. The article will run in the Creative Loafing that hits newsstands August 1. Dement performs, along with band mate Jason Wilber doubling as opening act, on Thursday, August 2 at Tampa Theatre.

Here are snippets of my interview with DeMent that I wasn't able to work into the actual story. Click here to read the story running in this week's edition of CL.

How much fun was it singing with John Prine on the hilarious title-track of his Grammy nominated album In Spite of Ourselves? [Sample lyric: "He ain't got laid in a month of Sundays / I caught him once and he was sniffin' my undies"]

Yes, it still goes to my nervous system [DeMent unleashes a nervous laugh]. That song was a hurdle for me. It seems silly now, but, lyrically, it was kind of a stretch for me to sing the first time. I’ve sang it a thousand times now and it doesn’t phase me. The song was a turning point in my life [she laughs again], now I love singing it. When [Prine] called he had just bounced back from cancer and asked me to come in sing it. His wife Fiona was yelling: "You better read the lyrics!" I experienced a little choking episode when the fax came through with the lyrics. But I’m glad I did it. It was good for me.

When it comes to faith issues, most people choose sides. Your song “Let the Mystery Be” [from DeMent’s 1992 debut album Infamous Angel] is a beautifully written, measured argument for ambivalence, for agnosticism … I understand you were raised religious. Did writing this song help you find peace after abandoning the beliefs of your upbringing?

Well, it’s been a while. I can’t really remember. I do know it represented where I had gotten to in my thinking at that point: I can’t see into the future. If there is another side, I don’t know anyone that has been back to talk about it. That’s [the line of thinking] that song came from.

Fans react very strongly to your music. Does that ever make you feel uncomfortable?

Absolutely not. That’s what you hope for. You hope people will identify with what you’re doing. I write to help myself and hope it helps someone else, as well. When it does, that’s the best thing in the world.

This article appears in Jul 25-31, 2007.