Around the Well is a compilation of out-of-print and previously unreleased tracks by the folk rock artist Iron & Wine, released on May 19, 2009. Iron & Wine toured in May 2009 in support of this release.

References

it:Around the Well

Artist/Band Information

Samuel Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage and recording name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released four studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a live album (a recording of his 2005 Bonnaroo performance). He tours with a full band.http

Beam was raised in South Carolina before moving to Florida to attend school and now resides outside of Austin, Texas. The name Iron & Wine is taken from a dietary supplement named "Beef Iron & Wine" that he found in a general store while shooting a film.http

Early life

Beam was raised outside Columbia, South Carolina, where his father worked in land management and his mother was a schoolteacher. When he was a child, his family took regular trips to the country where his grandfather ran a farm. He attended Seven Oaks Elementary School, Irmo Middle School, and Chapin High School. While home from college, he was a waiter at California Dreaming restaurant in Columbia.

Beam earned a bachelor's degree in art from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He specialized in painting. He graduated from the Florida State University Film School with an MFA degree. Before the release of the first Iron & Wine album, Beam's main source of income was as a professor of film and cinematography at the University of Miami and Miami International University of Art & Design. He had been writing songs for over seven years before a friend loaned him a four-track recorder. He made demos which his friends distributed and eventually the owner of Sub Pop Records contacted him to propose a deal.

Musical career

Flickr - moses namkung - Iron

Wine 2.jpgthumbIron & Wine's performance at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco

Beam released his first Iron & Wine album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, on the Sub Pop label in 2002. Beam wrote, performed, recorded and produced the album in his home studio. Featuring acoustic guitars, banjo, and slide guitar, the album's music has been compared to that of Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Elliott Smith, and John Fahey.

Also in 2002, Beam recorded a cover of The Postal Service's then-unreleased song "Such Great Heights". Rather than being included on an Iron & Wine release, the track was initially included as a b-side of the original version by The Postal Service. He then followed up on his debut album in 2003 with The Sea & The Rhythm, an EP containing other home-recorded tracks with a similar style to the songs on the debut.

Beam's second full-length album, Our Endless Numbered Days (2004), was recorded in a professional studio with a significant increase in fidelity. Produced in Chicago by Brian Deck, the focus was still on acoustic material, but the inclusion of other band members gave rise to a slightly different sound. That same year, he recorded the song "The Trapeze Swinger" for the film In Good Company, and had his version of "Such Great Heights" featured in an advertisement for M&M's and in the film and soundtrack for Garden State. This version was later used in a 2006 Ask.com advertisement, and eventually released as a single in 2006 backed with recordings of "The Trapeze Swinger" and "Naked as We Came" made for Radio Vienna.

Sarahbeam.JPGthumbleftuprightSarah Beam at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland

In February 2005, he released an EP entitled Woman King, which expanded on the sounds of his previous LP, and added electric guitars. Each track featured a spiritual female figure, and had subtle Biblical undertones.

The EP In the Reins, a collaboration with the Arizona-based rock band Calexico, was released in September 2005. Beam wrote all of the EP's songs years earlier, but Calexico added their trademark fusion of dusty southwestern rock, traditional Mexican music and jazz to the songs' arrangements. Several tracks feature brass instruments, a first for Beam's music.

The third full-length Iron & Wine album, entitled The Shepherd's Dog, was released September 25, 2007.Khanna, Vish., Exclaim!, October 2007. This album was voted one of the ten best of 2007 by Paste magazine.Paste magazine issue #38 Contributors included Joey Burns and Paul Niehaus of Calexico, as well as jazz musicians Matt Lux and Rob Burger. When asked to describe the album to The Independent, Beam remarked that "it's not a political propaganda record, but it's definitely inspired by political confusion, because I was really taken aback when Bush got reelected."

Beam has released most of his music on iTunes, including several exclusive EPs. The Iron & Wine iTunes Exclusive EP features unreleased studio recordings, including a Stereolab cover and two tracks which had previously only appeared on vinyl. The Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) features Beam and his sister, Sarah Beam, performing a number of tracks from his albums, as well as a cover of New Order's "Love Vigilantes". Sarah Beam has contributed backing vocals on many of Beam's studio recordings.

Beam's music has appeared in television series such as Grey's Anatomy, The L Word and House, M.D.. "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" was used in the film Twilight. The song was specifically chosen for the film's prom scene by Kristen Stewart, the female lead, and appears on the film's soundtrack.

The b-sides and rarities album Around the Well was released in 2009.

Personal life

Beam is married and a father of four daughters. He lives outside of Austin, TX with his wife Kim and family.

Discography

Albums

* The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002)

* Our Endless Numbered Days (2004) U.S. #158, Allmusic

* The Shepherd's Dog (2007) U.S. #24

* Around the Well (2009) (B-sides and rarities compilation) U.S. #25

* Norfolk (Live album) (2009)

EPs

* Iron & Wine Tour EP (2002)

* The Sea & The Rhythm (2003)

* Iron & Wine iTunes Exclusive EP (iTunes only) (2004)

* Woman King (2005) U.S. #128

* In the Reins with Calexico (2005) U.S. #135, Allmusic

* Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) (iTunes only) (2006)

* Live at Lollapalooza 2006: Iron & Wine - EP (iTunes only) (2006)

Singles

* Sub Pop Singles Club: "Call Your Boys" b/w "Dearest Forsaken" (CD + Clear 7" Vinyl) (2002)

* "No Moon" b/w "Sinning Hands" (Limited 7" Vinyl Bonus with first Pressing of Our Endless Numbered Days) (2004)

* "Passing Afternoon" (CD only) (2004)

* "The Trapeze Swinger" (iTunes only) (2005)

* "Such Great Heights" (UK only CD) (2006)

* "Boy with a Coin" (CD + UK only 10" Vinyl) (2007)

* "Lovesong of the Buzzard" (CD + UK only 10" Vinyl) (2008)

* "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" (iTunes only) (2008)

* Iron and Wine and Calexico – Dark Eyes

Other contributions

* The O.C. Soundtrack (2004) – "Sea and the Rhythm"

* Garden State Soundtrack (2004) – "Such Great Heights"

* Sweetheart: Love Songs (2004) – "Ab's Song" (The Marshall Tucker Band cover)

* L Word: Season Two soundtrack (2004) – "Naked as We Came"

* Grey's Anatomy: Season Two soundtrack (2004) – "Naked as We Came"

* In Good Company soundtrack (2004) – "The Trapeze Swinger"

*Fighting in a Sack (2004) – "New Slang (Featuring Iron & Wine)"

* Iron & Wine Live Bonnaroo (2005)

* KCRW Sounds Eclectic Volume 3

* I Am a Cold Rock. I Am Dull Grass. (2006) – "We All, Us Three, Will Ride"

* I'm Not There soundtrack (2007) – "Dark Eyes" (with Calexico)

* The Road Mix Volume 3 Soundtrack of One Tree Hill (2007) – "He Lays in the Reins" (with Calexico)

* Acoustic 07 (2007) – "Naked as We Came"

* Numb3rs (2007) – Season 3, Episode 19, Pandora's Box – "Naked as We Came"

* Friday Night Lights: Original Television Soundtrack (July 24, 2007) – "Dead Mans Will" (with Calexico)

* Twilight soundtrack (2008) – "Flightless Bird, American Mouth"

* Dark Was the Night (2009) – "Stolen Houses (Die)"

* Ugly Betty Season 3, Episode 16 (2009) – "Naked as We Came"

* The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (film) (2009) – "Naked as We Came"

* House, M.D.

** Season 4, Episode 16 (Season Finale, Part 2) Wilson's Heart – "Passing Afternoon"

** Season 6, Episode 1 (Season Premiere, Part 1) Broken – "Love Vigilantes" (New Order cover)

* 90210 – "Cinder & Smoke"

* E4's Misfits season finale

*The Last Song- "Each Coming Night" also on soundtrack for The Last Song

References