Well, welcome to Sub Pop, Iron and Wine! With this Sub Pop Singles Club release (Volume Two, #48, only 1300 copies), Sam Beam began his now-long-running relationship with the label. Like many unions, he eventually strayed to Warner Bros. and then Nonesuch, but let’s get back to the halcyon days of 2002. Back then, it was “Professor Beam” to you, as songwriting was something he did as a hobby when he wasn’t teaching film and cinematography at the University of Miami and Miami International University of Art & Design. He had been writing songs for over seven years and recording them at home on a four-track (like these two songs here). He gave one of these demos to his friend Michael Bridwell, and — yes, you guessed it — he gave it to his brother Ben, who also happened to be in the Sub Pop band, the auto-correct-hatin’ Carissa’s Wierd (#SP0582). It wasn’t long before Poneman was making the call, and here we are.

-Janice Headley, courtesy of KEXP