Regardless Iron and Wine evokes the name of a band, this is the stage name of folk music singer and songwriter Samuel Beam, who was born in Florida, but was raised in South Carolina, before relocating to Texas seeking fame and fortune as an Indie folk musician.
Iron and Wine began his career releasing lo-fi demo tapes while living in Miami, and although he was asked to submit his original material, Jonathan Poneman signed him to Sub Pop records label.
In September of 2002, Iron and Wine released his debut album "The Creek Drank the Cradle", including 12 of the total songs contained on his demos.
The album surprised critics and fans alike because Iron and Wine wrote, sang, recorded, and produced each track by himself at his home studio, which allowed him to display his multiple talents.
The music of Iron and Wine is often compared to the early production of musicians such as Neil Young, Ralph Stanley, Simon and Garfunkel, Nick Drake, John Fahey, and Elliott Smith, featuring predominant banjo, slide, and acoustic guitars.
The next year, Iron and Wine released the EP, "The Sea & The Rhythm" which included the other songs from his early home recordings. In 2004, Sam Beam got into a professional studio to release Iron and Wine's second album, "Our Endless Numbered Days".
From this album, three songs were featured in Dennis Quaid's film "In Good Company". After two years on the musical scene, Iron and Wine's songs helped to define his music as a Southern Gothic paradigm due to the blending of Indie folk, with alternative country music and progressive folk.
After the studio album, Sam Beam began to integrate other fellow musicians in his own projects, recording an EP entitled "Woman King" in February of 2005 and another with Arizona's band Calexico, "In the Reins", released on Overcoat Recordings in September 2005.
Sam Beam has featured all of his Iron and Wine's albums on iTunes, at the time that he has presented two exclusive EP’s and introduced his sister Sarah Beam. In September 2007, Iron and Wine has released his third album, entitled "The Shepherd's Dog".
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