Iron & Wine

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Samuel Beam, aka Iron & Wine, at a 2006 concert at Brooklyn's McCarren Park Pool.
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Samuel Beam, aka Iron & Wine, at a 2006 concert at Brooklyn's McCarren Park Pool.

Iron & Wine is the stage and recording name for Florida singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Raised in South Carolina, Beam released his first album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, on the Sub Pop label in 2002. Beam wrote, performed, recorded, and produced every track on the album by himself at a studio in his home. Featuring acoustic guitars, banjo, and slide guitar, the album's music has been compared, variously, to that of Nick Drake[1], Simon and Garfunkel[2], Neil Young, Elliott Smith, John Fahey and Ralph Stanley. It is often characterized as alt-country, progressive folk, or indie folk, and lyrical themes often follow a Southern Gothic paradigm.

In 2003 The Sea & The Rhythm was released, an EP collecting other home-recorded tracks along the same lines as those on the debut. Beam's sophomore album, Our Endless Numbered Days (2004), was recorded in a professional studio with a significant increase in fidelity. The focus was still on acoustic material, but the inclusion of other band members gave rise to a very different sound.

Beam released an EP titled Woman King in February 2005. Woman King expanded on the studio sounds that marked his previous LP, Our Endless Numbered Days and also included electric guitars. Each track featured a spiritual female figure and had subtle biblical undertones, although Beam has said in interviews that he is agnostic[1].

Sarah Beam, frequent Iron & Wine collaborator, at a 2006 concert at Brooklyn's McCarren Park Pool.
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Sarah Beam, frequent Iron & Wine collaborator, at a 2006 concert at Brooklyn's McCarren Park Pool.

The EP In the Reins, a collaboration with Calexico, was released in September 2005. Calexico, based in Arizona, brought a southern and at times latin feel to Sam Beam's songwriting. Beam wrote all of the songs for the album, but Calexico's sound is quite apparent. Several tracks feature brass, a very new sound for Beam's music, which is usually led by acoustic guitar.

His cover of "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service was featured in an advertisement for M&M's, in the 2004 film Garden State and its popular soundtrack, and in 2006 in an Ask.com advertisement. Beam also recorded the song "The Trapeze Swinger" for the film In Good Company in 2004.

Beam has released all of his music, plus two exclusive EPs, on iTunes. The Iron & Wine iTunes Exclusive EP featured unreleased studio recordings. The Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) EP featured Sam Beam and his sister, Sarah Beam, performing a number of tracks from his albums, plus a cover, "Love Vigilantes" by New Order. Sarah Beam has contributed backing vocals on many of Beam's studio recordings.

On August 1st, Beam released an EP available both for download on iTunes and standard purchase. This EP contained the studio version of Such Great Heights that most are familiar with along with recordings of The Trapeze Swinger and Naked As We Came made in Radio Vienna. Though none of these songs are new, the two alternate recordings were previously unreleased and all three songs are fan favorites.

Beam has a penchant for making music videos, having graduated from the Florida State University Film School with a MFA degree. For a time, he was a professor of Film and Cinematography at Miami International University of Art & Design.

[edit] New Album

[edit] Subject Matter

When asked to describe the album to the Independent, Beam remarked that "It's not a political propaganda record, but it's definitely inspired by political confusion, because I was really taken aback when Bush got reelected."

[edit] Release Date

In an interview with PassingAfternoon.com, Beam wrote "what i will tell you is that i have never recorded these songs before so they will all be new to you and that it will come out in february of 2007. sorry about the wait....." [sic]. However, nothing has been heard of the release date since then.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs and singles

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kearney, Ryan (2002-10-02). Iron & Wine: The Creek Drank the Cradle. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.
  2. ^ Bickford, B.R. (2003-02-19). Iron & Wine: "The Creek Drank the Cradle". Salon.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.
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