Pitchfork

Photo by Kathryn Yu

Over the weekend, we were lucky enough to rope in Iron and Wine's definitely-still-bearded Sam Beam for a rare live appearance at this little concert thing we had. We took in tunes from his forthcoming LP The Shepherd's Dog, gazed in quiet awe at his beard, and, in some cases, admired the gentle timbre of his speaking voice. Then we thought "when oh when can we repeat this overwhelmingly pleasant experience?"

With a visa or a really big boat, we Yanks might be able to catch Iron and Wine, but for those of you who live on an island off the left coast of Europe, well, you're in for a treat: Iron and Wine have announced a week and a half's worth of English, Scottish, and Irish dates in October. Cheers! For the impatient amongst you, Sam and friends have put together a show early next month at London's the Spitz. Double cheers!

All this, of course, coincides with the release of The Shepherd's Dog, out September 25 from Sub Pop in the U.S. and the day before in the UK from Transgressive Records. Pleasant sorts that they are, Transgressive will also release the "Boy With a Coin" single August 25 on 10" vinyl, though it's already out Stateside on a compact disc. So that's three cheers, then, or four? Either way.

Appropriately enough, the UK trek ends with a gig at London's Shepherds Bush Empire on Halloween. Shepherd's Dog, Shepherds Bush-- cheers all around!

Iron and Boddington's:

08-09 London, England - The Spitz
10-23 Leeds, England - City Varieties Music Hall
10-24 Gateshead, England - Sage
10-25 Manchester, England - Academy 2
10-26 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Belfast Festival
10-27 Dublin, Ireland - Temple Bar
10-28 Bristol, England - St. George's
10-29 Edinburgh, Scotland - Queen's Hall
10-31 London, England - Shepherd's Bush Empire