The Wilson Center at Cape Fear Community College is excited to announce that Iron & Wine will perform on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the “Light Verse 2024” tour.
Iron & Wine is the stage name of American singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Sam Beam has been creating music such as Iron & Wine for over a decade and is firmly ensconced in the American Alternative Indie Rock Cannon.
When the pandemic began, and the world shut down, so did the process of creating Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam. Reflecting on that time, Beam notes: “I feel blessed and grateful that I and most of my friends and family made it through the pandemic relatively unscathed compared to so many others, but it completely paralyzed the songwriter in me. While so many artists, fortunately, found inspiration in the chaos, I was the opposite and withered with the constant background noise of uncertainty and fear. The last thing I wanted to write about was COVID, yet every moment I sat with my pen, it lingered around the edges and wouldn’t leave. I struggled to focus until I gave up, lasting over two years.”
The journey began with a recording session with friend and producer Matt Ross-Spang in Memphis. Soon, a series of short tours entitled “Back to Basics” were booked. Those shows had an unspoken weight to them for Beam and the audiences alike, yet also provided an incredible sense of relief at finally being back at work and sharing art. A larger tour with Andrew Bird followed in the summer of 2022, and Beam was inspired even more by the excitement of collaborating with Andrew and his band.
By the time that tour ended, Beam felt as though the creative paralysis brought on by Covid had officially passed, and he began booking studio time for what would eventually become Light Verse, his most recent and seventh full-length album.
Beam says the album’s title mostly reflects how the songs were born with joy after the heaviness and anxiety of the pandemic. Where recent records like Beast Epic or Weed Garden gave air to the disquiet of middle-aged frailty and brokenness, these songs trade that for the focus acceptance can bring. Moment by moment, they delight in being pointed, silly (or both), and attempt beauty over prettiness. Tickets will be available online to Wilson Center Members beginning at 10:00 a.m. on February 8, 2024, with tickets going on sale online to the general public on Friday, February 9, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. Tickets may be purchased online at WilsonCenterTickets.com or by contacting the Ticket Central box office. Ticket Central is open for telephone and in-person sales from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday only. Ticket Central may be reached by telephone at 910.362.7999; questions may also be directed to tickets@wilsoncentertickets.com.
Cape Fear Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, and genetic information, or age.
The views expressed in performances at the Humanities and Fine Arts Center do not necessarily represent the views of the Humanities and Fine Arts Center, and should not be attributed to the Humanities and Fine Arts Center, Cape Fear Stage, Cape Fear Community College, CFCC Board of Trustees, CFCC Foundation, or the Faculty and Staff of CFCC.
©2024 Cape Fear Community College