Iron & Wine :

Iron & Wine is the stage and recording name for Southern singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Raised in South Carolina, Beam released his first album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, on the Sub Pop label in 2002; Beam wrote, performed, recorded, and produced every track on the album by himself at a studio in his home. The album features acoustic guitars, banjo, and slide guitar; its music has been compared, variously, to that of Nick Drake, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Young, Elliott Smith, and Ralph Stanley.

In 2003 The Sea & The Rhythm was released, an EP collecting other home-recorded tracks along the same lines as those on the debut. Beam's second album, Our Endless Numbered Days (2004), was recorded in a professional studio with a significant increase in fidelity. The focus still lies on acoustic material, but the inclusion of other band members gives rise to a very different sound.

Beam released an EP titled Woman King in February 2005, and the EP In the Reins, a collaboration with Calexico was released in September 2005. This joint work mostly features new full-band versions of previously recorded Iron and Wine rarities.

One of his most famous songs is a cover of the Postal Service's, "Such Great Heights" was featured on a commercial for M&M's candies and in the 2004 film "Garden State" (and on its popular soundtrack).

His most recent full-length album, The Shepherd's Dog, was released on September 25, 2007.

Beam's music videos are often beautifully cinematic, a testament to his degree from the Florida State University Film School. He also has an MFA degree, and was a professor of Film and Cinematography at Miami International University of Art & Design when Sub Pop signed him. Beam currently resides in Dripping Springs, Texas, outside Austin.