Iron and Wine is singer-songwriter Sam Beam, a man who makes deafeningly quiet country-folk, replete with strummed acoustics, twanged banjos and lazy slide guitars,influenced by Nick Drake, Elliott Smith and Will Oldham amongst others.

His debut album, the lo-fi The Creek Drank The Cradle, was released on the newly-eclectic Sub Pop back in 2002 to much critical slavering, followed by the similar-sounding 'Sea & Rhythm' EP.

Two more (professionally recorded) albums followed, Our Endless Numbered Days (2004) and The Shepherd's Dog (2007), the releases of which were split by more EPs; the Woman King EP (2005), the In The Reins EP (2005, a split with Calexico), and the Such Great Heights EP (2006), featuring a cover of the Postal Service song of the same name which proved highly popular via the medium of TV advertising.