Iron & Wine
Jan 31, 2011
There's a new sound coming out of the Northwest these days and over the course of a 10-year career, Iron & Wine's Sam Beam has become one of its greatest story tellers, crafting tales full of forlorn love, religious imagery and wistful dreams. Beam firmly established himself with the Triple format with 2008's "The Shepherd's Dog" and all that goodwill is quickly paying off for him with the release of "Kiss Each Other Clean" - his first effort for Warner Bros.
Again Beam focuses on beautiful melodies, interesting lyrics and creative instrumentation, but he is taking his musical cues from the 60s and 70s. However, he also continues to mine folk, African, rock, country and Jamaican musical traditions. Producer Brian Deck returned for the "Kiss Each Other Clean" sessions, continuing the creative partnership that he and Beam have developed over the course of three albums.
Several musicians contribute to the project including Matt Lux, Ben Massarella, Chad Taylor, Joe Adamik, Jim Becker , Thomas Bartlett, Stuart Bogie, Rob Burger and Sarah Simpson.
Several tracks are keepers from the album, but be warned that some songs have questionable lyrics concerning radio airplay. Besides the first single "Tree by the River," check out "Monkeys Uptown," "Rabbit Will Run," "Walking Far from Home," "Brother in Love" and "Big Burned Hand."
"Making sad music, it's not for me," Beam said in a recent interview. "I don't find that interesting. I want to describe a feeling, and write something that's true. I do touch on stuff that people don't want to deal with because they think it's too heavy or sad, but I don't try to make people upset. A good song should be a poem and have some kind of element that you recognize is true, but couldn't be expressed in a conversation."
Iron & Wine performed recently on "Conan." Interspersed with a series of dates in Europe and the U.K, Beam will be touring the States this spring:
- 3/4 Riviera Theater, Chicago
- 4/14 Royal Oak Music Theatre, Detroit
- 4/15 The Town Ballroom, Buffalo
- 4/16 MoCA, North Adams, MA
- 4/17 Higher Ground, Burlington, VT
- 4/18 State Theatre, Portland, ME
- 4/19 House of Blues, Boston
- 4/20 Rams Head Live, Baltimore
- 4/21 Electric Factory, Philadelphia
- 4/22 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
- 4/23 Trustees Theater, Savannah, GA
- 4/25 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
- 4/26 Amos' Southend, Charlotte
- 4/27 The National, Richmond
- 4/28 Carnegie Music, Pittsburgh
- 4/29 House Of Blues, Cleveland
For more information visit www.ironandwine.com
