The extraordinary absence of artifice in the music of Iris Dement required a confluence of nature and nurture, of wilderness and willpower. Born the youngest of 14 children in a family who’d lived for generations in a small town just east of the Ozarks on the Arkansas-Missouri border, Iris and the seven siblings who remained at home packed up and moved to California when she was 3. You can tell by her songs that the habits and temperament of her native land were made all the more palpable by the longing to retain them in the alien territory of Long Beach.

Her first album, "Infamous Angel," mixes gospel, country and folk in a manner reminiscent of the Carter family. Although already in her 30s when it was released, Dement’s attitude is wide-eyed and pure, her accent as broad and flat as the Ozark plateaus. She opens with a shrug at the way the world works ("Let the Mystery Be"), laments the changes in rural community ("Our Town"), pays tear-jerking tribute to her parents ("After You’re Gone," "Mama’s Opry") and closes with a spiritual ("Higher Ground"). Every shred of it exudes integrity.

Since then, Dement, has matured profoundly, in her own fashion. The emotional vocabulary of her vocals has deepened with confidence and experience, enabling her to better unearth the nuances and passion of her personal failings and political convictions, both indelibly informed by her moral values. She now has four CDs to her credit, the last one issued five years ago. Since 2002 she has been married to Greg Brown, one of the precious few people on earth more adept at smithing a song.

Here is Iris six weeks ago, singing the title track of her second CD, "My Life," in Houston. Here she is at the same show, moving from piano to guitar for a cover of Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone." And here she is singing the bittersweet gem, "Our Town" in vocal duet with Emmylou Harris.

Iris Dement at the Cedar Cultural Center, Friday, June 12, 8 p.m. Sold out.