now an interview with Mr. DeMent aka Greg Brown

Greg Brown's earthy poetry spawns from storms and streamsBy Brian T. Atkinson, SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN Thursday, January 29, 2009"Sometimes you've got to listen hard to the sounds old Mother Earth still makes," his gravelly voice speaks on "Eugene," the centerpiece of 2006's "The Evening Call."The 59-year-old Iowan, married to fellow folk singer Iris Dement since 2002, is scheduled to kick off the Cactus Cafe's 30th anniversary celebration today and Friday. "I played a fine show at the Cactus once and after went to see Phil Alvin next door," Brown says. "He blew me away."American-Statesman: Are you reflecting or projecting in `Eugene'? Greg Brown: You know, the beginning of the song was just about a lot of places I go playing music and don't really get to stay. I had this fantasy of just taking off and seeing all the places I'd like to explore. It's a travelogue.Where are you aiming the line `The world we've made scares the hell out of me'? At this whole (expletive) techno, angry, overpopulated, polluted, globally warming deal that we've made for ourselves (laughs). The whole thing we've gone and made is pretty scary.Do you think it can be turned around? Well, we're in dire straits, but I have a lot of hope. I felt so happy to see (Barack Obama) walk out there on Inauguration Day. I felt like standing up and putting my hand over my heart. Bush and company were a bunch of thugs, and they should all be in jail. They did untold damage to the country. But the fact that we can go from Bush to Obama like that gives me a lot of hope. I feel like we can breathe again. Obama projects a lot of calmness and thoughtfulness and concern for people. We haven't felt that from our government for a long time.Spoken like a true Iowa City liberal. Yeah (laughs). Iris and I moved back from Kansas City about a year ago. Iris really likes Iowa City. I was raised in Missouri and Kansas and Iowa, and that had an effect on me as a songwriter. I came out of farmers and preachers and musicians and storytellers, and I've always believed that songs come out of the ground. It's a very natural part of dealing with the trouble and mystery and beauty and horror of life.You've said that you don't worry much when you're not writing, though?Well, I've always thought of writing and songs as a gift. My job is to pay attention. I try to catch songs when they come, but I like to do other things like chop wood, go out in the woods, garden, anything outdoors. It's kind of nice when I'm not feeling creative.And when you are?I'm getting into home recording. I've got a bunch of songs that are more along the lines of "Eugene" - kind of talking stuff. I want to do another recording of William Blake songs. I might just stick it on the Internet. I want to take a different approach to recording for a while instead of, "Here's 12 songs and a cover." I might do spoken word. Maybe recipes.