Sam Beam's Double Vision

Known for his soothing baritone and a progressive, intricate brand of indie folk, Beam’s continued evolution as a songwriter shone brightly during these sessions. Before heading to Los Angeles to record, Beam filled his sonic palate with a wide array of albums that blended genres. He points to Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks as an album that was in heavy rotation. It’s through these various lenses that his songs came into focus.

As the sessions unfolded, songs poured out of him, so much so that when it came time to decide what would make the cut, he realized he had two disparate bodies of work. Thus, following a successful run in support of the record, released in 2024 as Light Verse, Beam knew he was sitting on a second Iron & Wine album from those sessions, and got back to it.

“I didn’t really have much of a plan going into it,” Beam tells Premier Guitar over Zoom ahead of an April tour stop in Omaha. “I kept on recording, and it was working.”

Light Verse featured Fiona Apple on the string-laden “All in Good Time,” and hopeful songs with titles like “Cutting It Close” and “Taken by Surprise.” Pitchfork described the 10-song collection as a “lively, relatively breezy album, despite its somber subject matter,” while Paste wrote Light Verse was “more expansive, yet its arrangements are tighter.”

The decision to issue Light Verse and its sister album, this year’s semi-rustic Hen’s Teeth, as two distinct releases was an easy one, if only for vanity purposes. The latter name comes from Beam’s desire to express the impossible, since, after all, hen’s teeth don’t exist.

“I was almost able to squeeze two records out of it, and once I realized it was like two records, I also knew I mostly hate double records,” he says with a laugh. “I don’t think [a double album] meets people’s listening habits these days, myself included. So we just decided to make a stronger second record.”

For Light Verse, on which he experimented with song form, Beam used an orchestra to give the record a cohesive feel—a notable departure from Hen’s Teeth. The arrangements were also more fragile and ornate. And thematically, Light Verse was steeped in humor and wordplay, while Hen’s Teeth takes a darker, rootsier approach.

“I'll walk through a room and pick up a guitar and start messing with it, and then a song starts to form.”

“The ones left over [from Light Verse] were a bit more unwieldy,” he says of the songs that serve as Hen’s Teeth’s foundation. “They’re a little bit more gregarious and a little hairier. They were bits and bobs of bizarre-sounding Americana, along with tropicália that didn’t feel right on the other one. Seeing what was left over, and arranging them in a way that highlighted their differences, gave it a little stepping stone going from one story to the next.”

That’s reflected on “In Your Ocean.” The twangy folk-rock tune tackles the push-and-pull of love, as reflected in lines like “Praying for dry ground / Though I only want to drown / When I find myself swimming in your ocean.” The song’s video depicts two lovers at a dinner that devolves into a showcase of relationship loneliness, serving as a proper visual summation of the track.

Iron & Wine gear:

Guitars:

• Three early 2000s Taylor 714ce acoustics (tuned D-G-C-F-A-C; D-A-D-G-A-D; F-F-C-F-A-C, respectively), fitted with Taylor’s Expression System 2 pickup system

• Three Taylor 714ce-N nylon-string acoustics (tuned: D-G-C-F-A-C; D-A-D-G-A-D; C-G-C-F-A-C, respectively), fitted with Taylor ES-N nylon-string under-saddle transducers

Strings, Picks, Cables, & DI

• John Pearse Phosphor Bronze strings (for steel-string acoustics)
• D’Addario Pro-Arté Silverplate wound Nylon Core strings (for nylon-string acoustics)

(Beam prefers strings that are well worn-in and warm, as opposed to new out of the pack and bright.)

• Dunlop Tortex 73mm picks

• Canare GS-6 cables with Switchcraft 1/4” connectors (Sommer Cable HICON connect at the guitar end)

• LR Baggs Session DI

With this theme in mind, Hen’s Teeth’s instrumentation sees Beam continuing to explore soundscapes. He points to the peaks and valleys of the six-minute “Dates and Dead People” as a highlight. Inspired by Brazilian guitarist and composer Baden Powell’s blending of harmony across styles like bossa nova and jazz, the song moves in various directions, notably through its use of tropicália—a bright sound that plays in contrast to the lyrics. The same approach surfaces on “Defiance, Ohio.”

The weaving melodies and the immediacy of his arrangements have been hallmarks of Iron & Wine’s sound. Beam rose to prominence in 2002 with the release of his debut Iron & Wine album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, through Sub Pop. Recorded on a four-track tape recorder at his home, it was noted and universally praised for its spare, direct approach. Upon its release, Beam was recognized as a songwriting talent to watch, with comparisons to artists like Nick Drake and Paul Simon. In 2003, he followed it up with The Sea and the Rhythm EP, whose title track was featured on an episode of The O.C.

Iron & Wine songs became favorites of music supervisors, with syncs on shows like House, Grey’s Anatomy, and The L Word, and in films like Twilight, In Good Company, and Garden State, which featured his cover of the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights.” The rest of the aughts saw a hot streak of success in the form of his equally praised sophomore album, 2004’s Our Endless Numbered Days, and 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog. The albums are billed as Iron & Wine, but Beam has frequently enlisted a cast of players to accompany him.

“I enjoy making music just as much now, probably more than when I started.”

Throughout his career, Beam has joined forces with a who’s who of guests, including Jesca Hoop and Band of Horses’ Ben Bridwell. He has also released two collaborative EPs with Calexico, 2005’s In the Reins and 2019’s Years to Burn. When it came time to enhance elements of Hen’s Teeth, Beam wrote parts for the folk trio I’m With Her, comprised of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan. Their soothing backing vocals are featured on the easygoing “Robin’s Egg,” and add urgency to the fragile “Wait Up,” giving the album a distinct identity from its predecessor.

In the studio, Beam found a natural rhythm with his engineer, Dave Way, mixing songs quickly after they were tracked. “Intuitively, I think [Way]’s usually listening for things that I like to hear,” Beam says. “He’s drawing those things out of the individual instruments. For me, it was great because I didn't have to ask him to adjust things. It was simpatico, and just a wonderful experience.”

Like Light Verse, Hen’s Teeth saw Beam collaborate with an all-star group of contributing musicians, including David Garza on guitar, Sebastian Steinberg on bass, keyboardist Tyler Chester, and drummers Griffin Goldsmith, Beth Goodfellow, and Kyle Crane. They gently guide the album’s textured sound, notably on the bright “Paper and Stone.”

Hen’s Teeth also features a guest close to Beam’s heart: his daughter, Arden. Born around the time The Creek Drank the Cradle was released, Arden’s inclusion was a full-circle moment for her dad. A visual artist who dabbles in songwriting, she backed her father on “Roses,” “Singing Saw,” “Defiance, Ohio,” and the melancholy “Grace Notes,” adding warmth and depth.

“It was a wonderful milestone to have her contribute,” Beam says with a smile. “It’s always fun to have these new bonds with your kids.”

With the critics, Hen’s Teeth picked up where Light Verse left off. AllMusic wrote that Beam’s ninth studio album shows that “he is still searching, still working hard, and still able to imbue his albums with the same deep feeling and unstinting beauty that he has from the beginning.” Uncut also offered words of praise, stating that the album “leans into the possibilities of dropping simple songs into the laps of intuitive musicians and delighting in what emerges.”

Throughout the new record, as has been the case across his catalog, Beam’s acoustic guitar is the cornerstone of Iron & Wine’s sound. His father had an acoustic guitar around the house, and as a child, Beam was fascinated by music. As it turns out, he says, the instrument complemented his voice.

Beam moves back and forth between a nylon-string guitar and piano as he crafts his songs. The process is simple with the guitar: It feels good, and he’s had it forever.

“I'll walk through a room and pick up a guitar and start messing with it,” he says, “then a song starts to form. My voice works with acoustic music, and it is serendipitous.”

Calling himself an “art school kid,” Beam approaches music with meticulous care to satisfy his curiosity and creativity. Following his instincts—and his fluctuating feelings about his work—has served him well. What makes recording rewarding, he says, is trusting that approach and pouring himself into a body of work he cares deeply about.

“The process is the art life,” he says. “Making things and going for something that’s going to surprise you and make you happy in that moment is what you focus on, and that’s where you put your energy. Then at the end of the day, you feel complete.”

The latest chapter of Iron & Wine carries the hallmark sound that made Beam a favorite. Beginning with Beast Epic, he stripped things down, and while he mixes it up on these releases, the DNA that made Iron & Wine is still there.

“It’s not really about finding the perfect song,” he says of his songwriting process. “You’re just always working, and usually working on just gibberish, reaching around in the dark for a syllable or a phrase. I’m always dabbling. I work in little bits and starts. Then, by the end of a week, I have enough material for a song or two.”

Looking back on a two-and-a-half-decade musical journey, Beam can’t help but marvel at his longevity as a recording artist. “I don’t think I had a concept of what 25 years was from then,” he says. “I was just so naive. I had no idea what wanting to make it a career actually meant beyond liking to write songs, and it being cool to put them out. I feel incredibly blessed to get to do what I love, which is the only thing I’m really good at, and I’m very appreciative of that.”

Beam plans to do more touring in support of the two albums, but he never stops writing and working on new material. He’s currently developing a musical with a friend and has additional collaborations in progress.

“It’s like most art forms: The more you give to it, the more it offers you,” he says. “I enjoy making music just as much now, probably more than when I started. So it feels like a prolific time, but I don’t feel like I’m working any more than I always have. I just enjoy it.”