Iron and Wine

Folk rock singer/songwriter Iron and Wine (birth name Samuel Beam) grew up in South Carolina. His soothing sound resembles that of Simon & Garfunkel, Nick Drake, and Elliot Smith. Prior to his music career, Iron and Wine was a film and cinematography professor at the University of Miami. He later captured the attention of music industry professionals with his soft melodies and lyrically rich ballads, and he self-produced his first album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, in 2002. His following EP The Sea & The Rhythm (2003) was also largely self-produced and contained a similar, solo acoustic ambiance.

Iron and Wine further developed his sounds on Our Endless Numbered Days (2004) by adding members to his band in the recording studio, creating an orchestral tone in his music. Subsequently, his songs began appearing in popular films and TV shows, such as Garden State and Grey's Anatomy.

He released the EPs Woman King (2005) and In The Reins (2005) before the arrival of the politically charged third studio album The Shepherd's Dog in 2007.

In 2011, Iron and Wine's Kiss Each Other Clean became his most successful album to date, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard Charts. Beam experimented with a bubblier, more poppy sound, and nostalgic critics commended the album, comparing it to classic pop of the 60s that's missing from today's music scene.

On top of the lingering pop sounds from Kiss Each Other Clean, Ghost on Ghost (2013) includes a heavier dose of strings, horns, and experimentation with jazz than on past Iron and Wine albums, denoting the rich lyrical and musical composition of Beam's most mature effort to date.