Iron & Wine to Tour in April

Bluesfest experts already know that Iron & Wine will be folkify-ing Byron Bay come Easter 2014. But what they don't know (or haven't, until today, at least) is that the Texan singer-songwriter formally known as Sam Beam will be making headline appearances in Sydney and Melbourne.

Since his last Australia tour, Iron & Wine has released two albums: the slick and poppy Kiss Each Other Clean (2011), which entered the US Billboard Chart at Number 2, and now, Ghost on Ghost. Representing yet another extension of Beam's creative repertoire, it combines '60s soul influences with dashes of '70s rock. Beam's idiosyncratic voice meets a punchy horn section, string flourishes and retro-style female harmonies.

"As an artist, I think you should be exploring all the time," he told American Songwriter recently. "It's a transition in the way you think about your work. If your work is more about the process of working, then you are still in pursuit of good results, but the result is not where you get your satisfaction. It's the process — the process of exploring and doing."

Iron & Wine will play the Sydney Opera House on April 22 and Melbourne's Forum Theatre on April 23. Tickets are available via Handsome Tours' website.

Photo by Craig Kief.