Iron and Wine…
Introducing one of my absolute favorite bands – Iron and Wine…
Samuel Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage and recording name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He occasionally tours with a full band.
Last year I was in their concert, here in Denmark and they were absolutely great! One of the very best life performances I’ve seen. I started listening to Iron and Wine after I heard his, now probably most famous, song in the first Twilight movie – Flightless Bird. I was listening to that song on repeat for a looong time. Have full discography of this band and I love all of it…I was fascinated by the fact that the same tone and feeling was kept through out every song, which is rare…in most case you like a song, but when you get the album you can see it was only one song standing out and the rest is not the same…
Beam was raised in Chapin, South Carolina, where his father worked in land management and his mother was a schoolteacher. Sam specialized in painting and that explains all the amazing artwork that goes along with his music.
He released his first Iron & Wine album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, on the Sub Pop label in 2002. He wrote, performed, recorded and produced the album in his home studio. Featuring acoustic guitars, banjo, andslide guitar, the album’s music has been compared to that of Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Elliott Smith, Neil Young and John Fahey. Full discography can be found here =)
“Flightless Bird, American Mouth” from the album The Shepherd’s dog (my favorite) was used in the film Twilight specifically chosen for the film’s prom scene by Kristen Stewart, and appears on the film’s soundtrack. This song was redone for the latest Twilight movie, specifically for wedding scene.
All of Sam’s music is very spiritual, with very intriguing lyrics, for example:
“Last I saw mother, she blew me a kiss
When they caught me the cups caught the blood from my wrist
‘Cause a rabbit will run, and a pig has to lay in it’s piss..” (from the song Rabbit will run)
During the concert I had goosebumps, it was entertaining and pure and honest performances filled with good atmosphere.
I have met the band after and even got most of their autographs, Sam was the warmest and nicest person, a real artist that does music because that’s what he’s meant to do and not for commercial and fame.
For those, who still don’t know the band, I strongly recommend to check them out and if you get the opportunity to go to their concert – most definitely do!=)
To find out more about the band go to their official website, follow them on Facebook page, Last.fm and MySpace.
You can purchase their music on Amazon and on iTunes, some of the songs were exclusively soled only on iTunes.
And if you prefer vinyl’s like I do (in my opinion it symbolizes the true devotion to the artist and music), then here are few good deals.
Finally… here are few songs, you can make your own opinion about Iron and Wine or simply enjoy the songs if you already know them=)
Sincerely,
S.