© 2024
NPR for Northern Colorado
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Iron And Wine On World Cafe

Iron And Wine.
Craig Kief
/
Courtesy of the artist
Iron And Wine.

At the heart of Iron and Wine is a 38-year-old singer-songwriter from South Carolina named Sam Beam, but Beam's new sixth album, Ghost on Ghost, is his most lavish full-band production yet. Back in 2002, the first Iron and Wine album essentially consisted of stripped-down demos, released as-is. In the spareness of those early recordings, Beam used only what he had available to him: a guitar, a banjo and a 4-track tape recorder.

Ever since, Iron and Wine has expanded to include more layered instrumentation. Here, Beam discusses his affinity for the sound of his words on Ghost On Ghost, which took him several years to write. Beam, who now lives in Texas with his wife and five daughters, also describes how he interacts with all the female energy in his house.

Copyright 2020 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.

David Dye is a longtime Philadelphia radio personality whose music enthusiasm has captivated listeners of World Cafe ® since 1991. World Cafe is produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania.
Related Content
  • Sam Beam says he isn't "worried about people understanding exactly what's happening" in any given song. In this interview, he discusses the "exposed, vulnerable place" described in "Caught in the Briars," as well as the themes that run through Ghost on Ghost, Iron and Wine's new album.
  • For those who fell in love with Sam Beam's spare solo work, he plays his new full-band material as a solo performer here. Watch Beam show a fresh side of his new songs at the NPR Music offices, and top them off with his devastating 2004 gem "Naked As We Came."