Iron & Wine

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 EP^{extended play}s and singles^{Single (music)}, as well as a few download-only^{music download} releases, which include a live album^{Iron & Wine Live Bonnaroo} (a recording of his 2005 Bonnaroo^{Bonnaroo Music Festival} performance). He tours with a full band.
Beam was raised in South Carolina before moving to Florida to attend school and now resides outside of Austin^{Austin, Texas}, 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.

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 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.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^{Record producer} 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,

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^{Gramophone record}. The Live Session (iTunes Exclusive)^{Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) (Iron & Wine EP)} 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.^{House (TV series)}. "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" was used in the film Twilight^{Twilight (2008 film)}. The song was specifically chosen for the film's prom scene by Kristen Stewart, the female lead, and appears on the film's soundtrack^{Twilight (soundtrack)}.

The b-sides and rarities album Around the Well was released in 2009.Beam is married and the father of four daughters. He lives outside of Austin, TX with his wife Kim and family.
Albums

* The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002)
* Our Endless Numbered Days (2004) U.S. #158
* The Shepherd's Dog (2007) U.S. #24
* Norfolk^{Norfolk 6/20/05 (album)} (Live album) (2009)

EPs

* Iron & Wine Tour EP^{Tour EP (Iron & Wine)} (2002)
* The Sea & The Rhythm (2003)
* Iron & Wine iTunes Exclusive EP (iTunes only) (2004)
* Woman King (2005) U.S. #128
* Live Session (iTunes Exclusive)^{Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) (Iron & Wine EP)} (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"^{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^{Such Great Heights EP}" (UK only CD) (2006)
* "Boy with a Coin" (CD + 10" Vinyl) (2007)
* "Lovesong of the Buzzard" (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) – "*** as We Came"
* Grey's Anatomy: Season Two soundtrack (2004) – "*** as We Came"
* In Good Company soundtrack (2004) – "The Trapeze Swinger"
*Fighting in a Sack (2004) – "New Slang (Featuring Iron & Wine)[Live]"
* 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^{I'm Not There (soundtrack)} soundtrack (2007) – "Dark Eyes" (with Calexico)
* The Road Mix Volume 3 Soundtrack of One Tree Hill^{One Tree Hill (TV series)} (2007) – "He Lays in the Reins" (with Calexico)
* Acoustic 07 (2007) – "*** as We Came"
* Numb3rs (2007) – Season 3, Episode 19, Pandora's Box – "*** as We Came"
* Friday Night Lights: Original Television Soundtrack (July 24, 2007) – "Dead Mans Will" (with Calexico)
* Twilight soundtrack^{Twilight (soundtrack)} (2008) – "Flightless Bird, American Mouth"
* Dark Was the Night (2009) – "Stolen Houses (Die)"
* Ugly Betty Season 3, Episode 16 (2009) – "*** as We Came"
* The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (film) (2009) – "*** 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^{Broken (House)} – "Love Vigilantes" (New Order cover)
* 90210^{90210 (TV series)} – "Cinder & Smoke"
* E4's Misfits season finale