Iron & Wine

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Iron & Wine
Beam at a 2006 concert at Brooklyn's McCarren Park Pool
Background information
Birth name	Samuel Beam
Born	July 26, 1974 (1974-07-26) (age 34) South Carolina, U.S.
Genre(s)	Folk Folk rock Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Guitar, Banjo
Label(s)	Sub Pop
Website	www.ironandwine.com

Samuel Beam, better known by his stage and recording name Iron & Wine (born July 26, 1974), is an American folk rock singer-songwriter. He has released three studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a live album (a recording of his 2005 Bonnaroo performance). He tours with a full band.^[1]

Beam was raised in South Carolina before moving to Florida to attend school, but now resides outside of Austin, Texas. The name Iron & Wine is taken from a dietary supplement named "Beef Iron & Wine" that he found in a general store while shooting a film.^[2][3]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Musical career 3 Personal life 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.2 EPs 4.3 Singles 4.4 Other contributions 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early life

Beam was born July 26, 1974. He was raised outside Columbia, South Carolina, where his father worked in land management and his mother was a schoolteacher. When he was a child, his family took regular trips to the country where his grandfather ran a farm. He attended Seven Oaks Elementary School, Irmo Middle School, and Chapin High School. While home from college, he was a waiter at California Dreaming restaurant in Columbia.

Beam earned a bachelors degree in art from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He specialized in painting. He graduated from the Florida State University Film School with an MFA degree. Before the release of the first Iron & Wine album, Beam's main source of income was as a professor of film and cinematography at the University of Miami and Miami International University of Art & Design.^[4] He had been writing songs for over seven years before a friend loaned him a four-track recorder. He made demos which his friends distributed and eventually the owner of Sub Pop Records contacted him to propose a deal.^[5]

[edit] Musical career

Beam released his first Iron & Wine album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, on the Sub Pop label in 2002. Beam wrote, performed, recorded and produced the album in his home studio. Featuring acoustic guitars, banjo, and slide guitar, the album's music has been compared to that of Nick Drake,^[6] Simon and Garfunkel,^[7] Elliott Smith, and John Fahey.

Also in 2002, Beam recorded a cover of The Postal Service's then-unreleased song "Such Great Heights". Rather than being included on an Iron & Wine release, the track was initially included as a b-side of the original version by The Postal Service. He then followed up on his debut album in 2003 with The Sea & The Rhythm, an EP containing other home-recorded tracks with a similar style to the songs on the debut.

Beam's second album, Our Endless Numbered Days (2004), was recorded in a professional studio with a significant increase in fidelity. Produced in Chicago by Brian Deck, the focus was still on acoustic material, but the inclusion of other band members, gave rise to a slightly different sound. That same year, he recorded the song "The Trapeze Swinger" for the film In Good Company, and had his version of "Such Great Heights" featured in an advertisement for M&M's and in the film and soundtrack for Garden State. This version was later used in a 2006 Ask.com advertisement, and eventually released as a single in 2006 backed with recordings of "The Trapeze Swinger" and "Naked as We Came" made for Radio Vienna.

In February 2005, he released an EP entitled Woman King, which expanded on the sounds of his previous LP, and added electric guitars. Each track featured a spiritual female figure, and had subtle Biblical undertones.

The EP In the Reins, a collaboration with the Arizona-based rock band Calexico, was released in September 2005. Beam wrote all of the EP's songs years earlier, but Calexico added their trademark fusion of dusty southwestern rock, traditional Mexican music and jazz to the songs' arrangements. Several tracks feature brass instruments, a first for Beam's music.

The third full-length Iron & Wine album, entitled The Shepherd's Dog, was released September 25, 2007. This album was voted one of the ten best of 2007 by Paste magazine.^[8] Contributors included Joey Burns and Paul Niehaus of Calexico, as well as jazz musicians Matt Lux and Rob Burger.^[9] 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."^[10]

Beam has released most of his music on iTunes, including several exclusive EPs. The Iron & Wine iTunes Exclusive EP features unreleased studio recordings, including a Stereolab cover and two tracks which had previously only appeared on vinyl. The Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) EP features Beam and his sister, Sarah Beam, performing a number of tracks from his albums, as well as a cover of New Order's "Love Vigilantes". Sarah Beam has contributed backing vocals on many of Beam's studio recordings.

Beam's music has appeared in television series such as Grey's Anatomy and The L Word. 2008 saw the use of "Passing Afternoon" in the emotional finale of the fourth season of House, M.D.. Later that year, "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" was used in the film Twilight. The song was specifically chosen for the film's prom scene by Kristen Stewart, the female lead, and appears on the film's soundtrack.

[edit] Personal life

Beam is married and the father of four daughters. He lives outside of Austin, TX.^[11]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002)
• Our Endless Numbered Days (2004) U.S. #158^[12]
• The Shepherd's Dog (2007) U.S. #24^[12]
• Around the Well (2009) (B-sides and rarities compilation) U.S. #25^[13]
• Norfolk (Live album) (2009)

[edit] EPs

• Iron & Wine Tour EP (2002)
• The Sea & The Rhythm (2003)
• Iron & Wine iTunes Exclusive EP (iTunes only) (2004)
• Woman King (2005) U.S. #128^[12]
• In the Reins with Calexico (2005) U.S. #135^[14]
• Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) EP (iTunes only) (2006)
• Live at Lollapalooza 2006: Iron & Wine - EP (iTunes only) (2006)

[edit] Singles

• Sub Pop Singles Club: "Call Your Boys" b/w "Dearest Forsaken" (CD + Clear 7" Vinyl) (2002)
• "No Moon" b/w "Sinning Hands" (Limited 7" Vinyl Bonus with first Pressing of Our Endless Numbered Days) (2004)
• "Passing Afternoon" (CD only) (2004)
• "The Trapeze Swinger" (iTunes only) (2005)
• "Such Great Heights" (UK only CD) (2006)
• "Boy with a Coin" (CD + 10" Vinyl) (2007)
• "Lovesong of the Buzzard" (2008)
• "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" (iTunes only) (2008)

[edit] Other contributions

• Garden State Soundtrack (2004) – "Such Great Heights"
• "Sweetheart: Love Songs" (2004) - "Ab's Song" ("The Marshall Tucker Band" cover)
• L Word: Season Two soundtrack (2004) - "Naked as We Came"
• Grey's Anatomy: Season Two soundtrack (2004) - "Naked as We Came"
• In Good Company soundtrack (2004) - "The Trapeze Swinger"
• Fighting in a Sack (2004) - "New Slang (Featuring Iron & Wine)[Live]"
• Iron & Wine Live Bonnaroo (2005)
• KCRW Sounds Eclectic Volume 3
• I Am a Cold Rock. I Am Dull Grass. (2006) - "We All, Us Three, Will Ride"
• I'm Not There soundtrack (2007) – "Dark Eyes" (with Calexico)
• The Road Mix Volume 3 Soundtrack of One Tree Hill (2007) – "He Lays in the Reins" (with Calexico)
• Acoustic 07 (2007) – "Naked as We Came"
• Twilight soundtrack (2008) – "Flightless Bird, American Mouth"
• Dark Was the Night (2009) - "Stolen Houses (Die)"
• Ugly Betty Season 3, Episode 16 (2009) - "Naked as We Came"
• House, M.D. Season 4, Episode 14 (Season Finale, Part 2) Wilson's Heart - "Passing Afternoon"

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Iron & Wine at MySpace