Iris Dement! and a Woody Guthrie Tribute with Woodstock's Country Joe
Saturday May 31/2008
8:00 pm
Chan Shun Concert Hall
Presented by Our Way Home Vancouver Peace Event and Reunion
One of today’s most celebrated country-folk performers, singer/songwriter Iris Dement grew up singing gospel music. She was first exposed to country, folk, and R&B during her teenaged years, drawing influence from Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell.
In 1988 she moved to Nashville. Her CD Infamous Angel won acclaim thanks to her pure, evocative vocal style and spare, heartfelt song craft. The record's word-of-mouth praise earned her a deal with Warner Bros., which reissued Infamous Angel in 1993 as well as its follow-up, My Life. Her third LP, the eclectic The Way I Should was fiercely political, tackling topics like sexual abuse, religion, government policy, and Vietnam.
In 1999, she collaborated with country man John Prine on his album, In Spite of Ourselves. Dement recorded four duets with Prine that earned her a Grammy nod the following year.
Country Joe McDonald (left) will perform from his newly-released recording Tribute to The Life and Legend of Woody Guthrie.
"Like no one of his generation Country Joe McDonald carries on the mission of Woody Guthrie." Billy Bragg
Country Joe was the leader of the 1960s rock & roll group Country Joe and the Fish. He is perhaps best known for his historic performance at Woodstock. Country Joe has recorded 33 albums and written hundreds of songs over a career spanning 40 years.
He and Barry Melton co-founded Country Joe and The Fish which became a pioneer psychedelic band with their eclectic performances at The Avalon, Fillmore, Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock. Their best-known song, "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag", is a black comedy novelty song about the Vietnam War, whose familiar chorus ("One, two, three, what are we fighting for?") is well known to the Woodstock generation and Vietnam Vets of the 1960s and 1970s.
In 2004 Country Joe reformed some original members of Country Joe and The Fish as the Country Joe Band which toured the United Kingdom and New York, including a Woodstock reunion performance.
Country Joe’s recent solo album War-War-War sets nine poems from Robert Service's war-themed collection Rhymes of the Red Cross Man to music and was recorded live on July 7, 2007 at the 2nd Annual Our Way Home Peace Event and Reunion.
This moving evening concert will raise funds to benefit the current US military deserters living in Canada, due to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
