A few years ago I was headed to Phoenix for a work trip. A fellow music buff recommended that I go to a little music store called Stinkweeds. He also mentioned that my next CD purchase really needed to be The Creek Drank the Cradle by Iron and Wine. He had proved himself trustworthy in the past so that week I made my way to Stinkweeds and discovered a store chock full of all the indie type stuff I'd been lusting after but couldn't always find at more mainstream stores. Now this was only about five years ago but I was still on dial-up internet and there was no such thing as iTunes so the instant gratification of getting a song RIGHT NOW was still a fantasy for me. I am embarrassed to admit but I rarely go to music stores anymore because I can get whatever I want with the click of the mouse. But I do miss reading a great review and then driving to the stor to root through the racks, picking up way more CD's than I would actually be able to buy, trying to decide which ones I really, really needed and which ones I might be able to live without. I am so spoiled now.
Anyway, back on topic, that day I decided I would go with both of my friend's suggestions and I bought the Iron & Wine CD. I got out to my rental car and popped it into the CD player. I had absolutely no idea what to expect, just that this guy was supposed to be good, but within about 30 seconds I knew Iron & Wine and I were going to be tight. I felt like this was the soundtrack for the girl I had always fantasized about becoming. And here I was, finally feeling settled in my new life in California, making good friends, being comfortable with myself without having to look around at everyone else. I hear this song and I am right back in my tiny little bedroom making big plans.
Bird Stealing Bread
I got to be sort of an Iron & Wine missionary. I had my whole circle addicted. My mom even took my little sister to see him play at Kilby Court in Salt Lake. I moved to Boston and kept spreading the word. I finally got to see him myself at the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge with my roommate Linda who had also gotten hooked.
But my favorite Iron & Wine moment was a show a few years ago in Rhode Island. One of my best friends from elementary school was randomly in town one weekend and it worked out that she and six of my friends were all willing to drive from Boston to Providence to see him play in a little club. I had been such a brat about how not fun the people in Boston were going to be and who would ever like the things I liked...and here were eight of us, hours from home, doing one of my very favorite things together. I am sure this will sound really cheesy but I felt so much peace and love that night. I struggled a fair amount with the decision to make that move and there were many, many times that I prayed really hard to understand what I was doing there. That night things seemed really clear. And awesome.
All of this is to say that Iron & Wine has a new album coming out this fall and I happen to have some tracks. I feel like this is one of the rare artists that just keeps getting better with each album. Here is a little taste of The Shepherd's Dog, coming out Sept. 25.
Resurrection Fern
4 comments:
I just recently discovered Iron and Wine. I know, a little late. And I love iTunes because, while it may be the cause of Tower Records going out of business (a store I loved as a teenager growing up in the Bay Area), I have discovered so many great, great bands that I never knew existed because I didn't know where to look!
p.s. Sorry about the tragic haircut! Thankfully, from my years of working in a salon, I think my last tragic haircut was the one Hannah Chase gave me in Annemasse...and under the circumstances, I didn't really care. Do you know what she's up to these days?
Maybe this should have been an email.
if i think too much about some of the haircuts i got in France i will probably start to cry. we had a member in Clermont-Ferrand who was supposedly a stylist but she SHAVED the underside of my hair. I can't even look at the photos from that era. This particular cut came after a solid year of spectacular stylists so I think it makes me even sadder.
I have no idea what Hannah is up to. But do you remember when she used to say the name of the church in her really funny bug voice? I still crack up when I think about it.
this IS an email conversation isn't it ; )
"I felt like this was the soundtrack for the girl I had always fantasized about becoming."
I seriously couldn't have said it better myself. Sometimes I even make up my own music videos in my head when I'm listening.
I still don't know how to download.
And I still adore CDs. And the mixtape.
As for "the girl I've always fantasized about being..." I think that's more like Gwen Stefani. Or Debbie Harry. Or Madonna.
Why are all my inside-portraits blonde???
Post a Comment