Sam Beam, who records and performs under the moniker Iron & Wine, might surprise some. As you might expect from his music, he’s laid-back and thoughtful. Yet he’s not the lone troubadour one might mentally concoct based just on his soulful, unconstrained sound.
“The last time we were in D.C., we had an eight-piece band, but once you start with horns, the numbers increase,” said Beam of the full band with him on tour. “I love it. I like the variety. I do a lot of single shows and smaller shows, but I like to do thing I haven’t done before. The big band is fun because you are not limited to just the quiet stuff. You can do the quiet stuff but a lot more.”
| Onstage |
| Iron & Wine with the Low Anthem |
| When: 8 p.m. Friday |
| Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW |
| Details: Sold out at press time; tickets may be available from online resellers; 800-955-5566; 9:30.com |
Now touring behind his first release in three years, “Kiss Each Other Clean,” Beam is anxious to play his new richly textured songs that incorporate brass and saxophone to create music accented with R&B, Afropop and more.
It’s not that Beam set out to make music that was different from the folk sound for which he’s known. It’s just that he’s one artist that doesn’t feel he needs to limit himself.
“To be honest, I don’t have much of an agenda,” said Beam when asked his goal when he began this album. “I write all of the time and [record] when songs are ready. I don’t know the idea of putting a new record out because I’ve pushed myself [to release songs that might not be fully developed].”
Not that the past years have given Beam a lot of downtime.
Between touring, writing and family expansion (he’s a father again), Beam has been in a whirlwind of activity.
What’s arguably fascinating is that Beam has resisted whatever push he might have felt to stick to a certain sonic path. Like singer-songwriters in the heyday of California’s Laurel Canyon — think Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash and Buffalo Springfield — he seems content to let the music expand and develop naturally as he explores the music of other artists.
“On this album I felt like we embraced the eclecticism of the last year but streamlined it a bit,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever lose the folk moniker, but that’s OK. I don’t really like to pigeonhole music into a genre. I like Jay-Z. I like all kinds of music. Music is like food. I’d never sit and eat the same kind of food all the time. It’s the same with artists — name some and I probably have their music.”
