Country singer to perform in Camden

If there is one thing that separates Iris DeMent from the crop of contemporary, country-inflected folk singers, it is her voice.

It is unmistakable on the radio: pure, innocent and vulnerable, with a little catch in it that could melt the coldest of hearts, yet devoid of affected sentimentality. And while the undiscriminating ear might hear similarities to the kind of country music that made millionaires of Trisha Yearwood and Shania Twain, DeMent’s sound is in fact a direct descendant of a less commercial, real country music. Echoes of Woody Guthrie and Loretta Lynn ring through her self-penned songs.

DeMent brings her voice and songs to the Camden Opera House on Saturday night. She will accompany herself on guitar and piano. Promoter Joel Raymond said he believes DeMent is writing a batch of new tunes on piano.

DeMent’s beginnings sound like the stuff of folk music legend. Born in Arkansas, the youngest of 14 children, she moved to California at the age of 3 when the family farm failed. Her mother and father brought music into the household, as did the radio, where DeMent heard country, folk and rock ‘n roll.

At 17, she quit high school, got a GED and went to work at Kmart, the first in a string of dead-end jobs. But at 25, while living in Topeka, Kan., she began writing and singing songs. She landed in Nashville and was signed by Rounder Records, and returned to Kansas City, Mo., where she lives today.

In 1992, she released her first album, “Infamous Angel,” which yielded what are probably her two best known songs, “Let The Mystery Be,” and “Our Town.” When DeMent signed with Warner Brothers Records, it re-released the album to a wider audience.

“Our Town” became a part of pop culture history when it was featured in the final episode of the TV series “Northern Exposure.” “Let The Mystery Be” has been covered by 10,000 Maniacs and David Byrne.

DeMent followed “Infamous Angel” with 1994’s “My Life,” and 1996’s “The Way I Should,” both of which were nominated for Grammy awards. More recently, she recorded four duets with John Prine on his latest, “In Spite of Ourselves.” DeMent has done short tours with Prine early this year.

She has also toured or recorded with the likes of Loudon Wainwright, Steve Earle, Del McCoury, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Tom Paxton, Merle Haggard and John McCutcheon.

Playing live, DeMent has said in interviews, is almost painful for her, but at the same, she draws energy from audiences who connect with her songs.

Of DeMent, noted music critic Robert Christgau wrote: “Without any exaggeration, one of the most original and deeply rooted singers and songwriters to emerge this decade. The intensity, concentration and natural force of her voice is enough to fill a room.”

Tickets for DeMent’s 8 p.m. Saturday performance at the Camden Opera House are $19 in advance and $21 at the door. Advance tickets can be purchased at: Wild Rufus Records, Camden; Grasshopper Shops in Rockland, Ellsworth and Bangor; Fertile Mind Bookshop, Belfast; Amadeus Music, Portland; and HoneyBear Leather, Bar Harbor.