Sam Beam & Ben Bridwell release Echo Mountain-recorded covers album

This would have been a fantastic April Fool’s prank: Sam Beam of Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses have teamed up on an a collaborative covers album, Sing Into My Mouth. The news is, in fact, not a joke. The record, due out this summer, was recorded at Echo Mountain Studios and includes tracks like Bonnie Raitt’s “Any Day Woman” and Sade’s “Bullet Proof Soul.” Bridwell and Beam will perform at New Port Folk Festival and other dates to be confirmed.

Press release from Nasty Little Man PR:

Longtime friends Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses and Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam take great pride in announcing the completion of their first ever collaborative album, Sing Into My Mouth.

Scheduled for a joint release this summer (exact date TBD) on Beam’s Black Cricket and Bridwell’s Brown Records via Caroline, Sing Into My Mouth is a loving homage to 12 songs that have had indelible influence on both of its creators. Classics interpreted on Sing Into My Mouth range from the familiar—Talking Heads’ “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody),” Sade’s “Bulletproof Soul” and El Perro del Mar’s “God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)” (the original having recently been featured on HBO’s GIRLS)—to deep cuts such as Them Two’s “Am I a Good Man?” (a frequent feature of Band of Horses’ live set) and “There’s No Way Out of Here” originally recorded by ‘70s UK act Unicorn but better known as the lead single from David Gilmour of Pink Floyd’s 1978 solo debut.

“As excited as I was at the prospect of finally working together, I was unsure of the possibility of us both finding the time,” says Bridwell. “Luckily for me, Sam was persistent with the idea of recording some of our favorite tunes that we’d always wanted to cover. This is truly a ‘full circle’ moment for me… I’ve always wanted us to sing together and finally I have that dream realized. I couldn’t be more excited to continue this project at the upcoming shows to take it even further while playing some of our original songs together.”

“Ben and I started our careers together and had been threatening to work with one another for years,” Beam adds. “When we finally conceived of the covers project and carved out some time, it was nostalgic and fun from top to bottom–the process of picking the songs to cover was really reminiscent of more than 15 years ago when we used to mail each other cassettes and CDs of music we were into–and the end of every recording day found us cutting up with friends the way we used to when we’d cross paths in South Carolina. He’s always been one of the funniest people I know.”

Sing Into My Mouth was recorded last summer at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC. The complete track list along with the artists whose performances of these songs inspired Ben and Sam are detailed below.

Bridwell and Beam are confirmed to appear together at the Newport Folk festival July 24, at the MoPop Festival in Detroit on July 25, and Osheaga in Montreal July 31. Further live dates will be announced as they are confirmed.

IRON & WINE AND BEN BRIDWELL
SING INTO MY MOUTH
(Black Cricket/Brown Records)

Tracklist:

1 This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads)
2 Done This One Before (Ronnie Lane)
3 Any Day Woman (Bonnie Raitt)
4  You Know Me More Than I Know (John Cale)
5 Bulletproof Soul (Sade)
6 There’s No Way Out of Here (Unicorn)
7 God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)  (El Perro del Mar)
8 The Straight and Narrow (Spiritualized)
9 Magnolia (JJ Cale)
10 Am I a Good Man? (Them Two)
11 Ab’s Song (Marshall Tucker Band)
12 Coyote, My Little Brother (Pete Seeger)