Wow! When I got it wrong, I really got it wrong. In my mind I thought bethann asked about the final episode of Due South (which I had just watched). Iris DeMent has a very distinctive voice and style which would be hard to misidentify once you've listen to her. Since it was asked in another thread, in my opinion, she is an artist who is keeping the folk tradition alive, does have elements of protest and biting social commentary and does get exposure. Iris DeMent is from my neck of the world, Kansas City. She says that she got the idea for Our Town from traveling through a small town while taking a trip to Oklahoma. She saw everything but the people and wrote the song from the imaged viewpoint of a lady who might have lived there. In our neck of the world we say of many small rural towns that they "roll up the street" at sundown. About the only thing open is the convenience store on the main highway, sometimes. Sorry again about the mix-up and thanks Joe for setting the record straight.