Fireside Chat

Iron & Wine

Warner, 4AD, Texas

The moment when Sam Beam got his first four track recorder was the moment he went from noodling on his guitar to writing songs and exploring the possibilities of his voice. Coming from an art school background, he had moved from studying painting to studying film in Florida, and the love of creating things had always been part of his nature. Still it remains a mystery how he took so little time to become a fully formed songwriter, his early lo-fi demos reaching Sub Pop records and convincing its founder Jonathan Poneman on the spot. Even though, at this early stage, his folk based songs still relied on a relatively barebones guitar or banjo backing and Beam's lush vocals, they already seemed to carry the vast spaces of America in their harmonies and imagery. Starting with his collaboration with fellow Americana explorers Calexico he worked towards complex arrangements and richer instrumentation. Since then he has recorded extensively with producer and former Red Red Meat member Brian Deck in Chicago, gently pushing his albums further leftfield without losing any of the rich storytelling. In this show he shares some of his thoughts on the craft and his development from bedroom recordist to stage performer and bandleader.