Progressive folk rocker Sam Beam, one of a number of solo artists who record under a band name (World Party, Five For Fighting and Badly Drawn Boy are other examples), chose to call his recording self Iron & Wine after seeing a dietary supplement named Beef Iron & Wine on a store shelf.
Beam was born and raised in South Carolina and received his master's degree from Florida State's film school; before his music career took off he worked as a professor of Film and Cinematography at Miami International University of Art & Design. In fact, he never actually intended to be a professional singer/songwriter, although he enjoyed recording lo-fi tapes in his house and releasing them around the Miami area. When Seattle indie label Sub Pop Records heard some of his music they made him an offer to release some of his songs nationally — which Beam thought about declining due to the time it would require.
The record deal ultimately proved too good to pass up, and Sam Beam has indeed spent a lot of time on his music. Since 2002 he has released three full-length CDs (including 2007's The Shepherd's Dog) and eight EPs (one with Calexico) as Iron & Wine. Where once he produced himself and played all of the instruments, Beam has allowed Iron & Wine to expand to include as many as seven people — his sister Sarah's harmony vocals are a fine complement to Sam's voice, which has rightly been described as angelic.
Provenance: Sam Beam, a.k.a. Iron & Wine, was born and raised in South Carolina. He currently he lives in Austin.
Latest release: The Shepherd's Dog (2007)
© 2007 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
Iron and Wine
