Lifeline, released in 2004 on Flariella Records, is Iris DeMent's spare, Pentecostal-rooted gospel covers album — twelve traditional hymns plus one DeMent original, "He Reached Down." DeMent (vocals/piano/guitar) leads a small acoustic combo: Bo Ramsey on electric and lap slide, David Roe on bass, Stu Basore on Dobro, with Pat Enright, Alan O'Bryant, Stuart Duncan, and Barry Tashian adding harmony. Jim Rooney co-produced with DeMent. The set was the inaugural release on Flariella, the label DeMent founded and named after her mother Flora Mae, drawing directly from the Arkansas Pentecostal hymns of her childhood. The record sits in the bluegrass catalog as a sibling to the Cox Family and Ralph Stanley gospel records of the same period.
Tracklist
- 1 I've Got That Old Time Religion in My Heart 3:05
- 2 Blessed Assurance 6:27
- 3 Fill My Way With Love 3:03
- 4 Hide Thou Me 5:09
- 5 The Old Gospel Ship alt version 3:11
- 6 Sweet Hour of Prayer alt version 4:00
- 7 That Glad Reunion 2:11
- 8 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms alt version 2:54
- 9 He Reached Down 4:12
- 10 Near the Cross 5:04
- 11 I Never Shall Forget the Day 2:43
- 12 I Don't Want to Get Adjusted to This World 3:38
- 13 God Walks the Dark Hills 5:23