May 7 street date. "Archive Series Volume No. 5: Tallahassee" is the lost-in-time debut album from Iron & Wine. A collection of songs recorded three years prior to his official Sub Pop debut, "The Creek Drank the Cradle" (2002). A period before the concept of Iron & Wine existed and principal songwriter Sam Beam was studying at Florida State University with the intent of pursuing a career in film. "Tallahassee Recordings" documents the very first steps on a journey that would lead to a career as one of America's most original and distinctive singer-songwriters. "Creek" arrived like a thief in the night with its lo-fi, hushed vocals and intimate nature, while almost inversely "Tallahassee" comes with a strange sense of confidence. Perhaps an almost youthful discretion that likely comes from being too young to know better and too naïve to give a shit. The recordings themselves are more polished than "Creek" and give a peek into what a studio version of that record might have offered up.
May 7 street date. "Archive Series Volume No. 5: Tallahassee" is the lost-in-time debut album from Iron & Wine. A collection of songs recorded three years prior to his official Sub Pop debut, "The Creek Drank the Cradle" (2002). A period before the concept of Iron & Wine existed and principal songwriter Sam Beam was studying at Florida State University with the intent of pursuing a career in film. "Tallahassee Recordings" documents the very first steps on a journey that would lead to a career as one of America's most original and distinctive singer-songwriters. "Creek" arrived like a thief in the night with its lo-fi, hushed vocals and intimate nature, while almost inversely "Tallahassee" comes with a strange sense of confidence. Perhaps an almost youthful discretion that likely comes from being too young to know better and too naïve to give a shit. The recordings themselves are more polished than "Creek" and give a peek into what a studio version of that record might have offered up.
May 7 street date. "Archive Series Volume No. 5: Tallahassee" is the lost-in-time debut album from Iron & Wine. A collection of songs recorded three years prior to his official Sub Pop debut, "The Creek Drank the Cradle" (2002). A period before the concept of Iron & Wine existed and principal songwriter Sam Beam was studying at Florida State University with the intent of pursuing a career in film. "Tallahassee Recordings" documents the very first steps on a journey that would lead to a career as one of America's most original and distinctive singer-songwriters. "Creek" arrived like a thief in the night with its lo-fi, hushed vocals and intimate nature, while almost inversely "Tallahassee" comes with a strange sense of confidence. Perhaps an almost youthful discretion that likely comes from being too young to know better and too naïve to give a shit. The recordings themselves are more polished than "Creek" and give a peek into what a studio version of that record might have offered up.
March 24 street date. "Lori" finds Iron & Wine's Sam Beam drawing from the songbook of noted singer-songwriter and multiple Grammy winner Lori McKenna. Recorded at the famed Sam Phillips Studios (Memphis, TN) with producer Matt Ross-Spang, Beam takes on four of his favorite McKenna tracks with help from Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, known collectively for their work in the indie-art-pop band Finom (formerly known as Ohmme). Cunningham and Stewart bring their own touches to "Lori" and helped Beam find even further depths to McKenna's songwriting. Together the trio sonically re-interpreted her plaintive odes into a tapestry of sounds - effortlessly blending their signature singing styles and breathing fresh life into the lyrics. 4 tracks. Limited to 2000 copies.
April 16 street date. Ghost on Ghost is the fifth release from singer-songwriter Sam Beam, using the pen name Iron and Wine. Ghost on Ghost was produced by Beam’s longtime associate Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Califone, Fruit Bats) and follows 2011’s Kiss Each Other Clean, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard chart to critical acclaim. Rolling Stone said of Kiss Each Other Clean that "pop music hadn’t seen anything like it since the heyday of Cat Stevens," while Pitchfork said it "more closely resembles the lush, gold-toned singer songwriter records of the late 60s and early 70s - Astral Weeks, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." For Ghost on Ghost, Beam sought to move from what he called the 'anxious tension' of his two previous records. "This record felt like a reward to myself after the way I went about making the last few," he says. Helping achieve Beam’s vision was a group of stellar musicians including Rob Burger, Steve Bernstein, Brian Blade, Curtis Fowlkes, Tony Garnier, Marika Hughes, Briggan Kraus, Maxim Moston, Tony Scherr, Doug Wieselman, Kenny Wolleson, and Anja Wood. Burger (Tin Hat Trio) has worked with Beam intermittently through the years and handled arrangements for strings and horns on Ghost on Ghost.
February 24 street date. 16 Previously Unreleased Early Home Recordings! Iron And Wine’s ‘Archive Series Volume No. 1’ is the first in a series - Sam Beam will be gathering otherwise unreleased home recordings, covers, live sets, and curiosities from his entire career as Iron And Wine and releasing them on his own label - Black Cricket Recording Co. ! ! This first release taps into a set of songs created before Sam was Iron And Wine, when he was making music without the public in mind. The songs on ‘Volume No. 1’ came to life at the same time as those selected for Iron And Wine’s debut album,’ The Creek Drank The Cradle’ (Sub Pop, 2002, 197K Sales To-Date). Performed and recorded at home on a 4-track cassette - the songs on ‘Creek’ were only 11 of the many crafted by Sam prior to his debut. Some of this material has been widely bootlegged, but has never received a wide-spread or proper release.! ! ’Archive Series Volume No. 1’ collects 16 of these unreleased early home recordings for the first time.! ! This initial chapter in the ‘Archive Series’ has been digitally transferred from the original cassettes and packaged in gatefold artwork featuring the Bird of Paradise Quilt (licensed from the American Folk Art Museum). Vinyl edition is 2xLP + DOWNLOAD CODE !